In its report – firstly reported by Tribuna de Macau – the commission indicates during the previous legislative year it discussed with government representatives the development of the current gaming legal framework, state security, the increase in non-gaming element, the future gaming licenses, among other gaming-related issues.

The report was first published on August 2 and mentions opinions expressed during a meeting by the committee with Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong and Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ) Director Adriano Ho on May 17 to discuss the previously cited issues.

The public consultation over the proposed amendments to the Macau SAR gaming legislation is expected to start in the second half of this year, as authorities set the ground for the renewal bidding process of gaming concessions.

“The committee underlined that the development of the local gaming sector has implications in national security, namely when it pertains to economic, financial and public safety sectors. When reviewing the current gaming law the government must ponder on one side how to assure the stable development of the gaming sector but also comply with national security needs,” the committee’s report adds.

The members of the committee cite amendments to the country’s criminal law enforcement on March 1, 2020 which criminalises the act of organising mainland Chinese for the purpose of ‘overseas’ gambling, something analysts have long posited would also cover the Macau SAR and impact the local junket sector.

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also repeatedly expanded an unamed “blacklist” of overseas destinations that attract Chinese tourists for gambling activities, believed to include countries such as the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam, and potentially Australia.

The amendment implies a possible prison term of up to 10 years for anyone who “organises” mainland Chinese citizens to gamble “outside the country (borders)”; and where there was a “serious” amount of money involved, or for cases considered to have “grave consequences”.

The committee considered the changes “alarming” not just to the Southeast Asian gaming sector but “even the whole world”.

“The committee advised government representatives to take the impact of these amendments under consideration when reviewing the current gaming law, especially when it comes to the VIP sector, highlighting that under this framework the current VIP room operation system will “hardly be able to continue with their modus operandi”.

Last year the Ministry of Public Security’s International Cooperation Department Director-General Liao Jinrong also said during a conference in Beijing that about RMB1 trillion (US$145 billion) in gambling funds flow out of China each year, posing a threat to China’s national security.

The AL group also suggested for authorities evaluate the possibility of the use of digital currency in the gaming sector and how the sector can upgrade and perfect itself to adapt to this evolution.

Chinese authorities have been testing the use of the world’s first state-backed cryptocurrency, the digital yuan, issued and managed by the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, with the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) carrying out studies on the possible use of digital currencies in the SAR but with no mention on its applications to the gaming sector.

The Macau Gaming Research Association previously stated that the acceleration of the use of the digital yuan as a valid currency in Mainland China could be a potential “game-changer” for Macau by overhauling entire payment systems.

Other issues addressed by the committee included suggestions for a clear definition of gaming operators corporate social responsibility in the future legal framework and concessions licenses, covering issues such as partnerships with SME’s, environmental protection, support to community neighbourhoods and responsible gaming.
The committee also warned that although non-gaming elements covered by gaming operators, which include mainly retail and F&B, contribute to the development of the local economy and provide more consumption options to residents, they also created great competitive pressure towards SMEs in the same areas with a solid financial situation.

“We hope the government provides more benefits and incentives gaming operators to create more platforms and events aimed at cooperations and synergies with SMEs, or to prioritise the purchase of local products and services.
With the term of the current concessions and sub-concessions set to finish in 2022, some committee members also suggested that the public tender does not necessarily need to be carried out before that date and that a better timing could be selected since, under the current uncertain pandemic economic situation, authorities could end up “admitting competitors with less satisfactory requirements”.