Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUL 2022年7月 亞博匯 44 Hyatt Regency Hengqin opened in December 2019. 橫琴凱悅酒店於2019年12月開業。 tourism retail center in Hengqin Novotown, to open next year. Novotown is an international leisure and tourism complex whose in-house facilities include Lionsgate Entertainment World, Hengqin National Geographic Ultimate Explorer, Fantastic Kung Fu Night, Hyatt Regency Hengqin and multiple themed retail and catering stores. As the construction of the “second-tier” customs surveillance zones are to be completed by the end of this year, the question of whether Hengqin will become a new duty-free island – and potentially harm Macau’s booming duty- free trade – has increasingly come into focus. Macau entrepreneur David Cheang, founder of AHA and head of AHA HK & Macao Youth Incubation Centre in Hengqin, told IAG that if Hengqin does become a duty-free island in the future, it will be one of only a limited number of duty-free islands in the world. “With duty-free access to Hengqin for goods from Macau, Hengqin and overseas, it will become a free market for trade,” he explained, “When both goods and people gather here, the local trading and market environment will be significantly enhanced, highlighting Hengqin’s special advantages, namely the deeper integration of the living and business environments of the two places. “For the people of Macau, this is a trend that should not be ignored. However, how to think about and grasp this opportunity depends on the industry and what each company wants. But seeing the development trend of Hengqin, the sooner you enter this area, the better.” Rebecca Wong, Tax Partner for PwC China, which opened its branch office in Zhuhai in 2019, believes there is no immediate cause for concern. “Cosmetics, skin care products, health products and pharmaceuticals are subject to strict import control requirements in mainland China, including long permit application processes,” she said. “These products will still be available only in Macau for quite some time in the future, so I don’t think [a potential duty-free rivalry] will have a significant impact on these products. “The shopping experience is also very important. At present, middle class or high-end COVER STORY