Chui Sai On, the only candidate for the third Chief Executive (CE) of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), said on Wednesday that he will study the issues of the SAR's gaming tax and the dwindling gaming revenues.

The CE candidate held a meeting with members of the General Association of Administrators and Promoters for Macao Gaming Industry Wednesday afternoon, which was part of a series of his campaign activities starting from July 11.

Asked by the members whether he will reduce the SAR's gaming taxes once he is elected, Chui said he is well aware that Macao's decreasing visitor number and heightening competition in Asia have brought pressures on local gaming industry.

However, he only told the participating members that he will study the issues of Macao's gaming taxes and revenues once elected, without disclosing any specific measures.

For the time being, local casinos pay nearly 40 percent of their total revenues to the SAR government as direct gaming taxes and required contributions to the island city's government-run foundation and local tourism promotions. Being the pillar of local economy, taxes levied on the gaming sector accounted for over 70 percent of the SAR government's total revenues.

As the only place in China where gambling is legal, Macao's gaming sector has suffered from the global financial crisis and a visa restriction imposed by the Chinese mainland authorities on its residents traveling the SAR, as its gross gaming revenues for the first half of this year dropped by 12 percent year-on-year to 51.5 billion patacas (6.52 billion U.S. dollars).

Large casino projects also stalled in the SAR due to financial reasons. Part of Las Vegas Sands' 12-billion-dollar casino plan on a reclaimed strip of Macao, known as Cotai Strip, were stopped, and another casino project invested by the Galaxy Entertainment, Based in Hong Kong, were also delayed.

Meanwhile, Asian nations such as Singapore is prepared to join the competition for the region's gamblers as large casino projects there were set to be completed and enter operation in the near future.

When presenting his political platform earlier this month, Chui has said that he will not only regulate the gaming industry's development pace and direction, maintaining local gaming sector's competitiveness in Asia, but revise and optimize the gaming law, so as to create a better environment for companies to do their business.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2009)