Macau prepares public tender for gaming concessions

The government of Macau is preparing for a public tender process that could take place in 2021.

Macau.- Macau’s Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac has revealed that the local government is preparing work that would lead to a public tender process for gaming rights. The tender could take place in 2021, a year before the licenses expire.

The concessions for Macau’s six casino operators expire in 2022. Leong said that the government is taking steps towards a public tender, including legislative ones. He added in a news statement from the Government Information Bureau from Macau that putting the terms of all the gaming concessions in line would benefit the preparation for the public tender. He also said that the government had enough time to prepare itself in order to avoid any negligence and be completely ready once it launches the tender.

Moreover, University of Macau Professor Jorge Godinho told Macau News Agency that the public tender could take place in 2021. “The government announced that the current concessions won’t be further extended. In other words, they will expire in 2022, and therefore we will have a public tender. My guess is that Macau will have a public tender in 2021,” said the professor.

The professor talked about the decline in VIP gaming revenue and how it could possibly mark a new era. He said that the trend was long-term and that it would inevitably happen. “Actually, when new casinos launched in 2004, many people immediately said that would happen in a very short period of time. That in two of three years the mass market would experience growth. And that the junkets would not be so important,” he explained.