Portuguese-style lease, but this time transferred to the United Nations for the next 100 years. He proposed that the UN could establish an Asian headquarters in Macau, which would become a major financial centre in the region. He also added that he'd be willing to investment a great deal of his own money into making such a scheme a reality.
Suffice to say, that project didn't go anywhere, so Mr. Ho changed tack. He invested heavily in the airport, mended his fences with Beijing and presented them with various art works and backed various good causes in China. However, I think there remained discomfort with the degree to which Macau’s economy was dominated by Stanley Ho. Te second reason is that, frankly, inviting western casinos to Macau upgraded the level of operations, as they were pretty seedy and rundown.
Is Macau’s focus shifting away from a casino- reliant model to a tourism model?
Priscilla Roberts: Well, when I first came to Macau, about four years ago, I went to various seminars and lectures at which the strategy of diversification was laid out. I mentioned this to another academic, who'd been here for 20 years, and she laughed and said: “oh, yes they've been saying that for two decades.” Te strategy of diversification is nothing new. For the last decade they have been trying to make the casinos more family-friendly, somewhere where you can come and spend several days with your family. Te plan is to defocus from gambling and encourage instead shopping, tourism and dining experiences that include a flutter in the casinos. However, it is still the really big whales that drive Macau.
What’s your view upon the future development of Macau and its continued integration with China?
Priscilla Roberts: Macau's becoming increasingly integrated with the special
development zone, Hengquin island, which is an incubator for start-ups and entrepreneurial activities. In fact, the University of Macau moved to a new campus on Hengquin island about five years ago, and there's been a lot of talk about Macau becoming a financial hub. I've had executives from the Bank of China explaining that they’d not seek to mirror Hong Kong or New York, but perhaps it could be something like Monaco, or the Seychelles?
Te other area where Macau is actively reaching out is in education; a lot of our students come from the mainland and now we recruit a great deal in China and I'm in charge of a special elite programme in the business studies department. I’d say between 90 and 95 per cent of the students are from the mainland. Macau is very small and very crowded, so a lot of people live over the border in Zhuhai and commute into Macau. A great many of our students at the university also live over the border, because it's cheaper just to cross every day.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P51
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