The former Portuguese enclave of Macau awarded three gaming licenses yesterday, ending a 40-year monopoly held by casino tycoon Stanley Ho in hopes of luring Las Vegas glitz and wealth to revive its languishing economy.
Macau Gambling Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Ho's Macau Tourism and Amusement Co, which operates 11 casinos, was awarded a license for the sake of maintaining the "stability of the gambling industry," said Francis Tam, secretary for economy and finance.
The other two licenses went to Las Vegas casino giant Wynn Resorts (Macau) Ltd and to Galaxy Casino Co Ltd, a venture controlled by Venetian, which is owned by Las Vegas Sands Inc.
Macau hopes the Las Vegas showmen will give the city a makeover, casting off its deadbeat image and adding world-class entertainment, sports and tourist attractions.
"The combination of these three companies will be beneficial to the development of Macau's gaming and tourism industry," Tam said.
"We want gaming and tourism together to become the leading industry in Macau, boosting the economy as a whole," he added.
Twenty-one companies, including Las Vegas gambling empire MGM Mirage, Britain's Aspinall's Club Ltd and Malaysian tourism, plantation and energy giant Gen-ting International PLC Group, had bid for the licenses.
Las Vegas casinos say they are banking on the increasingly affluent 1.3 billion mainland Chinese to fuel a gaming boom in Macau.
Tam said the licenses were awarded on a provisional basis.
The three runners-up were: MP Entertainment Co Ltd, which represented Park Place Entertainment Corp and Mandalay Resort Group, MGM Mirage Macau and Macau Star Ltd.
Gambling is banned in Hong Kong and China, which took over Macau in 1999 after more than four centuries of Portuguese rule but allows a high degree of autonomy.
Macau derives more than half its economic activity from the casinos run by Ho.
Since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, its economy has been in decline.
While Ho's casinos do exude opulence, with marble floors and sparkling chandeliers, gambling patrons crowd grimly around tables in crowded, rundown rooms. Prostitutes openly prowl the corridors.
Staff at Ho's office said the 80-year-old gambling magnate, who spends most of his time in Hong Kong, would be busy with meetings and was not planning to be in Macau yesterday.
Asked about the loss of his monopoly in an interview last year, Ho, whose assets have been valued at US$1.8 billion by Forbes magazine, expressed confidence.
"We are not worried. We are the biggest company in Macau and the richest company," Ho said.
Competition likely won't come right away.
Newcomers will need several years to build their casinos, and the government must find a way to finance the round-the-clock dredging Ho's company has been providing as a condition of the gambling concession
Ho, born into a wealthy Eurasian family that lost its fortune earlier this century, fled penniless from Hong Kong to Macau during World War II and acquired the gambling monopoly in 1962. At the time, Macau was a dying fishing port deluged with refugees from China.
Ho employs about 15,000 people, a fifth of the work force, and owns most of the hotel rooms and high-speed ferries that shuttle visitors from Hong Kong and other Chinese cities.
Ho has been diversifying his business for years, with investments in Portugal, Australia, Vietnam and North Korea as well as a cyber-gaming venture.
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