The Macau government plans to review the progress made by the city’s six casino operators on both the gaming and non-gaming investments pledged under their concession contracts. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Macau’s Chief Executive, Sam Hou Fai (pictured), as part of his 2026 Policy Address delivered at the city’s Legislative Assembly.
According to Mr Sam, officials will assess the concessionaires’ investment projects, the amounts already used, their fulfilment of social responsibilities, and their compliance with all legal obligations.
The review is to cover the 2023–2025 period.
The local authorities will also press operators to honour the pledges made when their current concessions were granted, including the delivery of planned gaming-related facilities and substantial non-gaming projects.
Mr Sam said the local authorities aimed to encourage the casino sector to diversify its tourism offerings, urging companies to “develop varied tourism projects and products”.
In late 2022, Macau’s six concessionaires pledged to the city’s government they would invest MOP118.8 billion (US$14.8 billion) between them over the course of their new 10-year permits, from 2023 to 2032.
At the time, they agreed to commit 10 times as much to exploring overseas customer markets and developing non-gaming projects, i.e., MOP108.7 billion, compared to gaming investment, where the aggregate would be MOP10.1 billion over the decade of the new concessions.
The total concession-related investment amount subsequently increased by 20 percent after Macau’s market-wide casino gross gaming revenue surpassed a predetermined threshold of MOP180 billion in full-year 2023.
During his Tuesday speech, Mr Sam emphasised a number of policies aimed at promoting Macau’s economic diversification away from gaming, a long-stated goal of the local authorities, as well as to position the city as a multifaceted destination.
At a press conference following his policy address, Mr Sam declined to provide any official 2026 gross gaming revenue (GGR) forecast for Macau’s casino industry. He added that it would be up to the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tai Kin Ip, to comment on the matter.
Tax on casino GGR represents, by far, the largest source of income for the Macau government.
Earlier this year, the Macau government reduced its 2025 GGR forecast by around 5 percent, to MOP228 billion from a previous projection of MOP240 billion, after worse-than-expected gaming performance from November 2024 to April this year. The government now expects nearly MOP88.56 billion in revenue from gaming taxes this year.
Market wide GGR for the first 10 months of the year reached nearly MOP205.43 billion, up 8.0 percent from a year earlier, according to data announced earlier this month by Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
Mr Sam noted that the casino sector’s performance was “highly dependent” on external economic factors. He said the government acknowledged that GGR in Macau had “improved” from April onwards, as international trade relations had “stabilised” and Macau’s visitor arrival trends had improved. Mr Sam, however, said he had questions as to whether the trend would be sustained into 2026.
