Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | November 2013 10 COVER STORY here are two projects that between them equal more than 10% of Macau’s total hotel inventory. Mr Tulk says, “We’re hopeful that Chimelong initially, and that a whole range of other economic activity, entertainment, business, educational, whatever it may be, will lead tomore visitation ultimately. There’s not enough.” ‘Controllable’ Risk Yet, it’s a “high-class problem” to have, as Mr Govertsen terms it, given the enormous opportunity this presents not only to mainland companies but to Macau’s concessionaires to get in on some of the development action. But even that is just investment across a range of sectors and test the benefits of a deregulated, privatized and more internationalized financial sector. These “New Areas” are laboratories, in essence, out of which it is hoped the tools will be crafted for building a true Chinese consumer economy and liberating the country from its dependence on export- driven manufacturing. “The special thing about Hengqin is that it is a naturally isolated island, so the risk is controllable,”as Niu Jing, director of the local government of the New Area, told Reuters . “Hengqin, without exaggeration, is unique.” Beijing’s comfort level with this is such that the State Council reportedly has approved the island as a “free trade part of what makes Hengqin not only important but interesting. There’s the tremendous land bank—at 106 square kilometers the largest of the city of Zhuhai’s 146 islands, one-third larger than Hong Kong island, three times the size of Macau—and the fact that nestled there against the most densely populated city on Earth, it is home to all of about 7,000 people. There is also the unique economic and political status accorded the island a little over four years ago as a “New Area,” one of only three in the country (Pudong in Shanghai and Binhai in Tianjin are the others), exclusive zones gifted with tax and import breaks and down the road possibly a freer environment for trading in yuan, the goal being to promote “The special thing about Hengqin is that it is a naturally isolated island, so the risk is controllable. Hengqin, without exaggeration, is unique.” Niu Jing, director, Hengqin New Area University of Macau’s new Hengqin campus