Former Legislator Says Local Residents Must be Allowed to Bid for Casino Licenses

While the gambling industry is currently burgeoning in Macau, the licenses that allow operators to run their casino facilities are going to come up for a renewal within the next couple of years. Traditionally, one may believe that a majority of the new concessions will be essentially provided to the existing casino operators only. However, there is one businessman in the country that came out with his request for allowing the local residents of Macau to contest for a casino license in the region as well.

As per a report published by a news website, a businessman and former legislator, Chan Meng Kam expressed his views on the anticipated license renewal in Macau by suggesting that the local residents must have more influence and participation in the process to ensure a brighter future for gaming in the region. He further added that being from Macau, he understands that the local people must also be provided the right to be a part of the gaming industry in the region.

As one may expect, in the wake of his comments, Chan was subsequently questioned as to whether he too was interested in acquiring the future gaming rights in the region by means of a license. However, Chan did not provide any proper clarification on this subject. The discussions were made during the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s annual meeting that was held in Beijing recently.

A proud owner of hundreds of real estate properties in Macau, Chan is often regarded as the wealthiest man in the territory. After acquiring his fortune in the 1990s, Chan served as a member of the Macau Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2017. Chan is currently heading the famous company Golden Dragon Co Ltd that is responsible for overseeing the operations of three major casinos by Melco Resorts and Entertainment and SJM Holdings in Macau.

Since such casinos need to undergo service agreements with at least one of the six local gaming concessionaires that are authorized to operate in the city and incorporate real gambling money, they are referred to as satellite casinos.

Apparently, Chan is not the only one who is concerned with the upcoming license renewal process in Macau. A couple of months back, the CEO for SJM Holdings stated that the existing casino operators in the market would like the local officials to be clearer on what they expect from the former as the region gears up for concession renewals.