MACAU – Casinos want licence extension beyond 2020
The impact of Covid-19 will not be fully known in the near future
The General Association of Administrators and Promoters for the Macau Gaming Industry has shown intentions to get the special administrative region’s (SAR) government to extend operating permits for the six casinos concessionaires due to the impact of Covid-19, in advance of the 2022 expiration deadline.
Speaking during a seminar at the University of Macau, the association’s director, Lam Kai Kong, said he doesn’t expect gaming revenue to recover before the concessions are due to expire in 2022, adding that although there is no proposed timeline for any extension, it should be “for an appropriate time.”
Licenses for MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn Resorts and the three Asia-based concessionaires expire in mid-2022, and because of the coronavirus pandemic. Although renewal talks haven’t started this year, there is the belief that none of the concessionaires are expected to lose out on the new licensing regime.
Renewal talks should already have started for the six casino operations in Macau but so far, the government has not given many details as to how licensing renewal process will take place other that they will not automatically be renewed. Industry observers believe that there will be greater demand in place for the new licensing contracts, especially on the need for diversification away from gambling.
Under the SAR’s current legal framework, authorities have the power to extend current permits five years beyond the expiration, which would take operators into 2027, and there’s talk that Macau policymakers are considering that avenue because it will give them adequate time to observe the SAR’s post-pandemic recovery.
According to JPMorgan Securities, it is possible the permit evaluation process will be extended a year or so past the 2022 deadline, as the impact of Covid-19 will not be fully known in the near future.
