Macau govt to extend gaming licences to Dec 31, 2022

Mar 03, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong (pictured) has said the licences of the city’s six casino operators are to be extended by about six months, to December 31, 2022. He was speaking to reporters today (Thursday, March 3), on the sidelines of a meeting of a committee of the Legislative Assembly.

Macau’s six current casino concessions and sub-concessions expire on June 26 this year. The city’s legislature is discussing a bill to amend the existing gaming law, which is to be approved ahead of a new public tender regarding the city’s gaming rights.

Mr Lei said additionally that the government had already requested gaming operators to submit relevant documents for it to proceed and approve the extension of the licences.

Macau’s Legislative Assembly is expected to give a final reading to the gaming law amendment bill by June this year, said a fortnight ago legislator Chan Chak Mo, the head of an assembly committee tasked with examining the bill.

On Thursday, Secretary Lei said that if the Legislative Assembly approved the draft law by June, the government would be able to start in the second half of this year the work required for the gaming-concession retender process. But he did not mention a date to launch such public tender.

Francis Lui Yiu Tung, deputy chairman of Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, recently admitted that a fresh public tender for Macau gaming concessions could “start in the second half of this year”.

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