Lionel Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance, witnessed the signing of the agreements

Macau | Contract extension of Jockey Club to bail taxes owed to Gov’t – Secretary for Economy

Macau (MNA) – The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong Vai Tac, stated on Thursday that one of the likely outcomes from granting a 24-year and six months extension to the Macau Jockey Club (MJC) operations is the reimbursement of taxes the company owes to the Macau SAR Government.

Claiming that the extension of the MJC concession is an opportunity for the company to balance its accounts, while adding value to the property by ‘significantly improving the non-gaming element’ to attract more visitors, the Secretary said the decision is a bet on the sector’s diversification.

“It is true that [the MJC] has [suffered] continuous losses but overall, in terms of diversification of our gaming industry, it can contribute with its non-gaming element,” contended the Secretary, who was speaking to media on the sidelines of a meeting of the Follow-up Committee on Public Finance Affairs of the Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Leong remarked, however, that the extension is conditional upon the company’s capacity to spend the MOP1.5 billion it pledged to invest in the facilities, explaining further that the investment has been divided into three instalments.

The Secretary failed, however, to elaborate upon details of the timetable agreed with the company for the announced investment, transferring the task of providing details about both the investment and the reimbursement plans to the Director of the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ), Paulo Martins Chan.