Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming FEBRUARY 2016 12 Industry profile IAG: Let’s start at the beginning. Tell us a little about your career before you entered gaming. Albert Yu: I was born and raised in Hong Kong and then went to the US for high school and university. After I graduated I came back and took over my father’s business manufacturing camera bags. We had 300 workers in our plant in China producing for the likes of Olympus, Nikon and Canon. I was in charge of everything from sourcing materials to logistics, budgeting and marketing, so it was a very good learning experience on how to manage an entire company. IAG: How did you join Aruze? AY: I had been running the family business for seven years when a Japanese colleague introduced me to Aruze. Gaming and production of gaming machines was a completely different industry, but I knew about manufacturing and marketing so I was able to make the transfer. Kazuo Okada wanted to set up in Hong Kong and he put me in charge of everything from registering the business and hiring staff, to finding him an apartment and buying him a car. Then he sent me to Aruze’s factory in the Philippines to train for a few weeks. IAG: How did you come to Macau? How was the transition for you personally? AY: Mr Okada transferred me to Macau to get first hand experience of the casino industry. When I arrived I hadn’t gambled beyond the occasional small-stakes card game with friends. There were slot machines that we could try out in the office, with no money involved. I realized that wasn’t enough. I had to start using my own money in casinos, to play our own Albert In five short years Albert Yu has worked his way up to become General Manager of the Macau office of Japanese gaming equipment manufacturer, Aruze Gaming. IAG took some time to get to know Albert better.