A Macau government adviser said the question of how many game concessions there could be in the region after six have now expired in stages from 2020 to 2022 "may still be under consideration."
"The number of game concessions should not increase after renewal," Macao's Economy and Finance Minister Francis Tam Pakyuan said during a visit to Beijing in March, according to Chinese media.
However, David Green, an Australian lawyer and former gaming regulator who has advised the Macau government on gaming regulation policies since 2000, told a conference session at the G2E Asia in 2014 that this may not be an accurate reflection of what Tam said.
"I don't think he actually said that. I think the matter is still under consideration," said Mr. Green, the principal of Newpage Consulting Ltd. However, he added that it would be difficult to choose someone else to make concessions without going to a competitive bid.
He explained: "…"It would be very difficult to make additional concessions without going through a complete bidding process. The reason is that a lot of people with interests in the industry would actually be impossible to make decisions because they have affiliates and connections that they can argue should be made - a decision that is certainly acceptable to all stakeholders."
Mr Green added that the appeal of the current arrangement included "a very strong group of businesses internationally, the strongest operators in their particular tier."
"There may be people (casino operators) who are eager to be here, but there is no one who should be here," he said.
"This [renewal of concessions and sub-concessions] is probably nothing more than a routine exercise," Mr. Green suggested.
However, he added that he had "taken speculation" as to what financial and contractual terms the renewal of the existing permit would take place. Kotai Casino's next-generation capital expansion alone is more than $20 billion.
"Each of these companies has already invested several times their initial investment commitments. And it seems that there is little point in asking for additional investment from a government that already has very large financial reserves. This is because there is no place to invest in Macau unless you start the urban regeneration process. So maybe the answer is that they [the contractors] should invest in the tangled [island]," suggested Mr. Green.
The lawyer was originally part of the Arthur Andersen consultancy team hired by the Macau government to advise on the liberalisation of the Macau casino industry.
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