Asian Economic News: CORRECTED FOCUS: Macao economy thriving on gambling

MACAO, Feb. 10, Kyodo

Three years after the reversion to China in December 1999, Macao has been thriving as a ''gambling city,'' with its economy believed to have chalked up growth of more than 5% last year.

Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah of the Macao special administrative region is steering Macao's economic policy focused on the gambling industry.

Though some discount Ho's practical-minded approach, the policy has so far been successful and Ho is now seen as a shoo-in for reelection next year.

Macao has benefited from its geographical proximity to the ''Pearl River Delta'' industrial area in Guangdong Province.

Tourists from inland China have been increasing sharply. Last year, the number of Chinese tourists to Macao came to 4.24 million last year, a whopping 260% rise from 1.65 million in 1999.

The total number was 11.53 million last year from 7.44 million in 1999.

Chinese are said to like gambling. According to a survey, tourists from mainland China lost a total of 2 billion patacas (about 32 billion yen) on gambling in 2001, and a high-ranking local government official even resigned under pressure after spending as much as 40 million yuan (about 520 million yen) in a Macao casino.

Before the reversion to China, the government of Macao tried to transform its casino-dependent industrial structure and promote the information and technology industry.

However, it did not produce the expected results due partly to the territory's narrow land area and partly to high costs when compared with neighboring Guangdong Province.

In 2001, the territory government decided to focus its economic policy on the gaming industry. In that year, a contract with the Macao Tourism and Amusement Company (STDM) expired.

Taking that opportunity, the government decided to break up the four-decade-old gambling monopoly that had been held by STDM since 1962.

It divided the casino licenses into three and gave two of them to U.S. companies, including Galaxy Casino Co., in August the same year.

The Macao economy, which had registered negative growth for four consecutive years before the reversion, turned upward and posted positive growth for three years in a row after the reversion.

With the Las Vegas-backed Galaxy Casino slated to start operating in October this year, Macao, with a population of less than 440,000, is about to transform itself into a refined gambling city.

According to a public opinion poll conducted by Macao University last month, Ho's job approval rating was 78.7%.

''Ho is sharp. He will be easily elected for a second term,'' a senior official of the Macao government said.

Hong Kong people, who have lost confidence in the government still feeling the aftereffects of the Asian currency crisis, may be envious of Ho's practical-minded policy approach to gambling.