Macau’s newly-appointed Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ng Wai Han (pictured, left), has pledged to strengthen the city’s economic resilience by advancing its economic diversification strategy, as she formally took office at a ceremony presided over by Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (pictured, right).
Ms Ng was sworn in and assumed office on Monday, after her appointment was announced on the same day in an official notice issued by the Macau government.
In her first public remarks after taking office, Ms Ng thanked the Chief Executive and China’s central government for their confidence, describing the appointment as both an “honour and a deep responsibility”.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance is one of the principal officials in the Macau government and oversees a portfolio that includes the city’s gaming industry, tourism-related economic development, financial services, labour affairs, consumer protection, taxation and economic policy.
Ms Ng had been appointed to lead Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (also known as DICJ), in May 2025.
In May this year, her appointment as DICJ director had been renewed for a further year. There has not yet been an announcement on who will succeed her as head of the gaming regulator.
In her Monday comments, Ms Ng said every policy decision in the economy and finance sector was closely linked to Macau’s future development and the daily lives of the city’s residents.
Amid what she described as a complex and volatile external economic environment, the new Secretary for Economy and Finance said her team would work to implement the government’s policy agenda and pursue practical solutions to challenges facing the city.
A key focus would be the implementation of Macau’s economic diversification strategy away from the gaming sector, “with the aim of strengthening” the city’s “economic resilience,” Ms Ng stated.
“The road ahead is full of challenges, but also great opportunities,” Ms Ng stated, adding that she believed Macau’s economy could enter “a new stage of growth” through the joint efforts of government, businesses and residents.
Ms Ng succeeds Tai Kin Ip in the post of Secretary for Economy and Finance.
A veteran civil servant, Ms Ng had served as director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau immediately before taking charge of the gaming regulator. Prior to that, she spent more than two decades working at the Labour Affairs Bureau.
