Category Archives: Macau

Traffic has been a major cause of concern for the gaming industry since the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. However, the industry is gradually coming out of the woods. Reopening of the economy and enhanced vaccination drive have been reinstating investor confidence. The industry players have been benefiting from robust demand for sports betting.

Casino visitation in Macau has increased considerably in the first week of September. Lei Wai Nong, the citys secretary for economy and finance said that Macau registered 24,000 visitations on Tuesday, compared with average daily visitation of 21,000 in the first half of 2020. Traffic was down in August due to the coronavirus related alert.

Lei Wai Nong also informed that the Macau government will definitely adjust its full-year estimate for casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) taking into account the recent events. The Macau government is optimistic regarding improvement in Macaus GGR in the coming two months.

Per brokerages JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd and Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd, Macaus operators recorded GGR of MOP$250 million (US$31.2 million) per day from Sep 1 to Sep 5. In August, the average daily rate was MOP$143 million (US$18 million). The uptrend is likely to continue during the Autumn Golden Week a holiday period in China.

Improvement in gaming revenues from Macau is likely to benefit companies like MGM Resorts International MGM, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited MLCO, Wynn Resorts, Limited WYNN and Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS, which generate a major portion of their revenues from the region. In the past year, the Zacks Gaming industry has increased 22.4% compared with the S&P 500s growth of 39.4%.

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Although visitation is likely to continue improving in the coming months, it is expected to take time to attain the pre-pandemic levels. Despite the early September gain, the average is still 66% below the same period in 2019. Per, Fitch Ratings, Macaus GGR in 2021 will be nearly 65 percent below 2019 levels. In 2022, revenues will recover to 35% below 2019, while full recovery is anticipated by 2024.

Earlier, Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) had increased gaming inspectors by more than double. The number of inspectors increased to 459 from 192. In recent years, Macau has heightened scrutiny of casinos to clampdown on corruption in China. This compelled Macau officials to impose restrictions on high rollers to stop billions of dollars from being siphoned off illegally from mainland China to Macau.

Casino visitations in 2020 declined sharply primarily due to lockdowns and other coronavirus-related restrictions. This persuaded the casino operators to focus on online betting. With development in the latest online gaming technology driving revenues, several companies have been investing heavily in digital initiatives to improve reliability and customer services.

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Macau Casino Traffic Surges: Is the Worst Over for the Industry? - Yahoo Finance

The World Health Organization said there were about 4 million coronavirus cases reported globally last week, marking the first major drop in new infections in more than two months. In recent weeks, there have been about 4.4 million new COVID-19 cases.In its weekly update released yesterday [Macau time], the U.N. health agency said every region in the world saw a drop in COVID-19 cases compared to the previous week.Although the worldwide number of deaths decreased to about 62,000, with the sharpest decline in Southeast Asia, there was a 7% increase in deaths in Africa. The highest numbers of cases were seen in the U.S., Britain, India, Iran and Turkey and the highly contagious delta variant has now been reported in 180 countries.WHO also said children and teenagers continue to be less affected by COVID-19 when compared to adults, adding that deaths of people under 24 due to the disease account for fewer than 0.5% of global deaths.WHO has previously said children should not be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations given the extreme vaccine shortages globally.

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The Buzz | WHO reports big drop in new coronavirus infections - Macau Daily Times

Macau has seen the number of blank and invalid votes shoot up amid a record-low voter turnout during its seventh legislative election, after 21 liberal and pro-democracy candidates were disqualified in July. Election officials attributed the poor turnout to the Covid-19 epidemic and the weather.

Over 137,000 people or 42 per cent of Macaus registered voters headed to the polls on Sunday to elect 14 lawmakers by universal suffrage for the casino towns Legislative Assembly, a drop of almost 15 per cent compared to the election in 2017. However, less than half of the 33-seat chamber is directly elected by the public. Among the remaining seats, 12 were returned by indirect, small-circle elections in professional sectors, whilst seven lawmakers are appointed directly by the Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng. Macau has about 324,000 registered voters.

The number of blank votes recorded this year shot up from 922 to 3,141, or 2.29 per cent of all ballots, a proportion which tripled compared to the election four years ago. The proportion of invalid ballots also nearly doubled, according to figures published by the Macau Electoral Affairs Committee (CAEAL).

An election official said the low turnout could be attributed to the Covid-19 epidemic and high temperatures on Sunday: [We] preliminarily believe that this was due to anti-epidemic measures. It was not convenient for some many residents living in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Mainland to return to Macau [to vote] as they would be subject to quarantine, said CAEAL chief Tong Hio-fung. Also, todays weather was quite hot and there were thunderstorms in the afternoon, these may have affected the desire to vote.

The SAR last saw a Covid-19 infection six weeks ago. It has recorded a total of 63 cases since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Sunday saw temperatures of up to 34 Celsius.

Election winners came from seven of the 14 tickets running in the elections this year, after 21 candidates on six of the tickets were disqualified because they had failed to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to Hong Kongs sister SAR, Macau electoral officials said.

Disqualified lawmakers and contenders told HKFP that election authorities cited social media photographs with Hong Kong democrats, participation Tiananmen Massacre commemorative vigils and trips to Taiwan as reasons for their disqualification.

Candidate Si Ka-lon on the Macau United Citizens Association ticket topped the polls with 26,593 votes, securing a total of three seats for the pro-establishment political party dominated by members of the Fujian community in the city. The other two winners on this ticket were Song Pek-kei and Lei Leong-wong. The group nabbed about a fifth of all votes.

Coming second in the polls was Ella Lei of The Union for Development, with 23,760 votes. Leong Sun-iok was also a winning candidate on the unions ticket.

The remaining winning contenders were JosPereira Coutinho, Zheng Anting, Leong Hong-sai, Wong kit-cheng, Che Sai-wang, Lam U-tou, Lo Choi-in, Ngan Iek-hang, and Ma Io-fong.

One of the disqualified pro-democracy candidates, Scott Chiang, compared the election officials comments to telepathy: The post-[disqualification] election is full of absurd comedy, such as when the Electoral Affairs Committee insisted that the record-low turnout was due to the epidemic and not other reasons as if they could mindread, he wrote in a post to Facebook on Sunday.

Nevertheless, a legislature produced from an unfair election may have some remaining value. The Legislative Assembly will still play a roll in politics as long as Macau hasnt come under the governance of the Revolutionary Committee or a military state, he said, referring to a governing body during Chinas Cultural Revolution. Whether the cup is half empty or half full, everyone is free to choose.

The winners are expected to take their seats for Macaus seventh legislative session in October. Each session lasts four years.

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Macau: Legislative election turnout at historic low after opposition barred from running, govt blames weather and Covid - Hong Kong Free Press

A curious trend swept Germany in 1994 red socks began appearing in windows and on posters. Twenty-seven years on, the sartorial gimmick is once again making headlines in Europes biggest economy.

The peculiar scene has less to do with fashionistas than politicians. Then, as now, the red socks were a campaign strategy deployed by Chancellor Angela Merkels CDU party as a warning to voters lurching to the left in upcoming elections.

Return of the red socks, red socks campaign 2.0, German media has blasted in recent days, harking back to a campaign strategy inspired by the derisory term in the former East Germany for particularly unpleasant communist party members.

The CDU used it in 1994 to warn against letting the far-left PDS into parliament.

And it is now being repeated to stir up fears against voting in a leftist government.

Polls show that Merkels conservative centre-right CDU-CSU alliance is set to lose against the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) for the first time in 16 years.

The SPDs leading candidate, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, is now in pole position for her crown.

A win would potentially usher in the first SPD-led government since the party under Gerhard Schroeder lost by a whisker in 2005 to Merkels conservatives.

It would also open up a myriad of constellations for which coalition might govern for the next four years including one which could include left-wing extremists, according to Merkels party.

Heirs of ex-East Germanys communist party, the far-left Linke, with its anti-NATO stance and staunch opposition to military deployments abroad, was once dismissed as a fringe party.

But now, not a day goes by without a CDU-CSU heavyweight warning against letting the Linke in through the backdoor if voters pick Scholz.

At a key debate on Sunday, the conservatives pick to succeed Merkel, Armin Laschet, accused Scholz of being dishonest with voters over the issue, saying the SPD candidate harboured secret plans to form a coalition with the Linke.

The radical-left party is also eyeing a spot in the next government as part of a three-way combination that also includes the ecologist Greens.

But Linkes leader Dietmar Bartsch said his party was the natural partner for the SPD, rather than the liberal FDP, the other possible coalition partner.

The only question is whether the SPD really wants to implement its campaign programme, Bartsch said.

On domestic matters be it climate change, immigration or social policies the SPD and Greens have more in common with the Linke than with the FDP.

Yet the Linkes foreign policy stance has always made it a pariah for mainstream parties at the federal level.

Scholzs refusal to rule it out as a potential SPD coalition partner has only fuelled speculation.

But analysts say there is little chance of the Linke making it into a coalition.

Political analyst Gero Neugebauer told AFP that the threat was being drummed up by the CDU-CSU in order to mobilise its supporters.

He said that Scholzs refusal to voice a clear stance on the Linke was tactical posturing ahead of post-election coalition negotiations.

Scholzs official silence also serves as pressure on the FDP, which wants absolutely to govern, said Neugebauer.

Scholz, who is also Merkels vice-chancellor, is no left-wing firebrand.

The 63-year-old stems from the tradition of SPD chancellors like Helmut Schmidt or Schroeder who are more centrist than their party, said Paul Nolte of Berlins Free University.

I expect from a government under a chancellor Scholz the continuity that has always been part of changes of governments in this country. This applies to foreign, European and security policies, he told AFP.

The SPD has already been taking the lead on social policy in repeated coalitions with Merkel.

And on Germanys purse strings, Scholz has said that Berlin must return to budgetary rigour in 2023 after unleashing a trillion-euro bazooka to ward off coronavirus pandemic damage to the economy.

Any major changes, said Nolte, could instead come in climate and transport policies.

Nevertheless, Scholz will likely seek to present a new departure from Merkels right-left grand coalitions.

They will certainly want to show how their new agenda is different from these previous coalitions, said political scientist Tarik Abou-Chadi at Oxford Universitys Nuffield College.

by Hui Min NEO

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What do red socks have to do with Germany's election? - Macau Business

Macau has recorded revenue figures of MOP4.4bn (402.1m/467.9m) for August 2021, representing an increase of 234.0% from the same period last year.

When compared to pre-pandemic 2019 however, revenue figures are down significantly from MOP24.26bn. August 2021s revenue figure is also down by almost half from the previous month, when the total was MOP8.44bn.

Revenue for the year to date currently stands at MOP61.91bn for 2021, compared to MOP198.22bn in 2019.

This news comes as Macau has made changes to its Covid-19 guidelines for people entering the country, relaxing its testing rules.

If a person enters Macau from Mainland China without having been abroad in the previous 14 days, they must produce a negative result from a Covid test issued within the previous seven days. The time frame for a negative test had previously been 48 hours rather than seven days.

Rules for Hong Kong and Taiwan remain the same, while visitors from anywhere else remain prohibited.

Previous Covid-induced travel restrictions imposed on those entering Macau from Mainland China were lifted back in February.

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Macau GGR dips from July to August ahead of easing of testing rules | Finance - iGaming Business

As Macau continues to struggle with its COVID-19 recovery, the numbers are much lower than previously expected. New bouts of the coronavirus, including through the Delta variant, are hurting efforts to rebound and August didnt bring much relief. According to analysts, September wont be any better, either, but October could finally result in a welcome uptick in performance.

The latest figures from Macaus gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ, for its Portuguese acronym), show that August produced gross gaming revenue (GGR) of $554 million for the city. While that may be good for some locations, it is far below what Macau was used to prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and is also a 47.4% drop from what was seen just a month earlier. However, its much better 234% better than the $166 million Macau reported in August of last year.

The August results are also the second-lowest recorded over the past 12 months. In September of last year, the DICJ stated that revenue was just $276 million for the month. From January to August of this year, Macau saw GGR of $7.72 billion, representing a 70.1% jump over the same period in 2020. Compared to the first eight months of 2019, though, the figure is way off. The entire year produced GGR of $36.66 billion.

The slow August was a result of ongoing COVID-19 issues in mainland China that will spill over into September. Travel restrictions have been eased; however, some requirements are still in place. These will continue to hinder Macaus recovery until regional stabilization occurs. According to analysts with JP Morgan, that wont happen this month, but could be seen in October.

DS Kim, Amanda Cheng and Livy Lyu, JP Morgans regional analysts, write in a new update on Macau, While one week doesnt make a trend, a near instant recovery post border normalization bodes well for upcoming high season in 4Q, including the October Golden Week. September is unlikely to be upbeat given seasonality, but were hopeful to see GGR back on solid recovery path in October, which we expect to print a post-pandemic high of ~MOP$350 million ($43.8 million) per day versus Mays MOP$337 million ($42 million) per day.

Analysts with the Bernstein brokerage agree, predicting a 70% month-on-month gain this month, followed by a more significant gain in October. Visitors arriving in Macau must now show a negative COVID-19 test within seven days of their arrival, instead of the 48-hour period that has been in place. This will help facilitate some rebound in the city, although at a slow pace. Travel restrictions from 13 cities in seven mainland China provinces are still in force, which will impact the numbers.

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Macau's GGR Drops in August, but Recovery Could Be Coming - GamblingNews.com

The Health Bureau has indicated it has encouraged local subsidized associations to participate directly in the promotion of mental health care in schools and continued to raise public awareness of suicidal attitudes and enabling the public to identify people with suicidal thoughts.

The statement comes after the death of a 16-year-old female student reported on September 1, who is believed to have jumped from the Iao Hang building at Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga.

The Health Bureau appeals to society and the public to pay attention to the mental health of young people and to pay more attention and listen more to young people in their daily lives, pay attention to their opinions or emotions, to attitudes that they can be aggressive and can lead to suicide, so listening to them can allow them to express themselves and help to prevent any incidents, the department noted.

Health authorities cited World Health Organisation data that estimates between 10 to 20 per cent of young people worldwide have mental health problems, with suicide the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years.

In order to prevent suicide among young people, one of the most important measures is the early assessment and diagnosis of high-risk groups and patients, and timely access to health care as it can significantly reduce the occurrence of adverse situations, as well as increase the advantages of youth development, socialization and learning, the department added.

A rise in suicide cases in Macau was apparent last year, with local authorities attributing the rise to the psychological and economic factors caused by Covid-19, with a total of 66 suicides reported, of which 50 involved local residents.

The number of suicides reported in the first three months of 2021 has decreased by 44 per cent year-on-year, with some 10 deaths reported.

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Health Bureau warns of mental health risks in young residents - Macau Business

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday called on the international community to promote the construction of a beautiful world in which humanity and nature live together in harmony.

Li made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the seventh World Conservation Congress (WCC) via video link.

Li said in recent years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to environmental protection and sustainable development. As a large country with a population of 1.4 billion, China respects nature, conforms to nature, protects nature, and upholds the concept of ecological civilization in the process of realizing socialist modernization, the premier said.

Faced with unprecedented challenges in the field of global natural environmental governance, the international community needs to promote the construction of a beautiful world in which humanity and nature live in harmony, he said.

Li said it is necessary to comprehensively consider various elements of natural ecology, strengthen the protection of oceans, forests, grasslands and wetlands, and enhance the restoration of endangered wildlife protection areas and ecological corridors.

He stressed it is also necessary to promote economic recovery after the pandemic and pursue a green and low-carbon development path. We must adopt nature-based solutions to develop green finance, research and promote green technologies, develop a circular economy, and promote industrial transformation and upgrading, he said.

In order to address climate change, Li pledged to uphold multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

On further improving global ecological environmental governance, Li called on the world to adhere to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and strive to promote the construction of a fair, reasonable, and win-win global environmental governance system.

He noted that China has pursued a green transformation in the process of promoting economic and social development. Chinas forested area and forest stock volume have continued to grow for 30 consecutive years, and the types of terrestrial ecosystems and major wild animal populations have been effectively protected.

China actively implements the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the national carbon market, the worlds largest in terms of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions covered, was launched recently, he said, adding that China stands ready to work with all parties to build a clean and beautiful world.

The seventh WCC was jointly hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and France. French President Emmanuel Macron and representatives of political and business circles from many countries attended the meeting.

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Chinese premier stresses achieving harmony between humanity and nature - Macau Business

Jeanette Zacarias Zapata, an 18-year-old boxer from Mexico, died Thursday, five days after she was knocked out in a fight, promoter Yvon Michel said.

It is with great sadness and torment that we learned, from a representative of her family, that Jeanette Zacarias Zapata passed away this afternoon at 3:45 p.m., a statement from Groupe Yvon Michel said.

Zapata took part in the GYM Gala International Boxing event Saturday in Montreal, losing to Marie Pier Houle in the fourth round of a welterweight match.

A left uppercut and right hook from Houle dazed Zapata in the fourth round.

She did not answer the bell for the fifth round of the scheduled six-round professional bout, and after she appeared to have a seizure she was stretchered out of the ring and taken to hospital.

The entire team at Groupe Yvon Michel team is extremely distressed by this painful announcement, the promoters said in their statement offering condolences to the fighters family and in particular her husband, Jovanni Martinez.

Jovanni does not wish to comment, the statement said.

Houle had posted a statement on her Facebook account Monday saying she was upset by the outcome of the bout.

Boxing carries a lot of risks and dangers, she said. This is our job, our passion. Never, forever, intention to seriously hurt an opponent is part of my plans.

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Mexican teen boxer dies of injuries suffered in ring - Macau Business

US troops ramped up efforts Tuesday to airlift thousands of people out of Kabul, after the Taliban warned they would not allow the United States to extend next weeks deadline for a complete withdrawal.

President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to go beyond an August 31 deadline he set to pull out American forces, with Britain to lobby at a virtual G7 summit on Tuesday for a longer presence.

About 50,000 foreigners and Afghans have fled the country from Kabuls airport since the Taliban swept into power 10 days ago, according to the US government.

But crowds continued to mass outside the airport, with Afghans terrified of facing life under the Taliban.

Many fear a repeat of the brutal interpretation of sharia law that the Taliban implemented when first in power from 1996 to 2001, or retribution for working with the US-backed government over the past two decades.

The Taliban are the same as they were 20 years ago, Nilofar Bayat, a womens rights activist and former captain of Afghanistans wheelchair basketball team, said after fleeing and arriving in Spain.

If you see Afghanistan now, its all men, there are no women because they dont accept women as part of society.

The Taliban, who ended two decades of war with an astonishingly swift rout of government forces, had been publicly tolerant of the evacuation effort.

But on Monday they described next weeks cut-off date as a red line.

If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations the answer is no there would be consequences, spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sky News.

He said any foreign military presence beyond the agreed deadline would be extending occupation.

The Taliban achieved their stunning victory thanks to Biden pulling out nearly all American troops from Afghanistan, following through on a deal struck with the Taliban by then-president Donald Trump.

However Biden was forced to redeploy thousands of troops after the fall of Kabul to oversee the airlift.

Biden and his top aides have repeatedly insisted they are aiming to stick to their August 31 deadline.

The goal is to get as many people out as fast as possible, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

The focus is on trying to do this as best we can, by the end of the month.

But European leaders are calling for more time.

British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Prime Minister Boris Johnson would raise the issue at the G7 virtual summit.

Germany also said it was in talks with NATO allies and the Taliban to keep Kabuls airport open for evacuations beyond August 31, while France said additional time is needed to complete ongoing operations.

The rush to leave Kabul has sparked harrowing scenes and left at least eight people dead.

Some have been crushed to death and at least one, a youth football player, died after falling off a plane.

The German defence ministry said Monday an Afghan soldier was killed and three others wounded in a firefight with unknown assailants.

The Taliban are currently working on forming a government, but two sources within the movement told AFP there would be no announcement on a cabinet until the last US soldier has left Afghanistan.

The Taliban have repeatedly claimed to be different from their 1990s incarnation, and have declared an amnesty for government forces and officials.

But an intelligence assessment conducted for the United Nations said militants were going door-to-door hunting former government officials and those who worked with US and NATO forces.

In the capital and other cities, the former insurgents have enforced some sense of calm, with their fighters patrolling the streets and manning checkpoints.

We assure the people there are no security issues, if anyone faces any security problem they should come to us, an armed Taliban guard told AFP in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

The Taliban are also intent on quashing the last notable Afghan military resistance to their rule, made up of ex-government forces in the Panjshir Valley, north of the capital.

The Panjshir has long been known as an anti-Taliban bastion.

One of the leaders of the movement, named the National Resistance Front, is the son of famed anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud.

Another is Amrullah Saleh, a vice president and head of intelligence in the fallen government.

The Taliban have said they have massed forces outside the valley, but would prefer a negotiated end to the stand-off.

by David FOX

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US ramps up Afghan evacuations after Taliban warn of 'red line' - Macau Business