Macau migrant estimate; Under 21 caught; Regulator dampens expectation; Bain to the rescue

macau skyline 4Macau will need up to 200,000 imported workers by 2036 to keep up with demand in the enclave. Policy Research Office, a government think tank, projected that Macau will need 150,000 to 200,000 workers from overseas by 2036 as there are “not enough resident” workers to keep up with future demand. This was according to Lao Pun Lap from the think tank and it comes as the government revealed there are already some 110,000 non-resident workers in Macau.

It took only two days for a patron to flout the enclave’s strict new casino age restrictions enforced late last week. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported that a resident under the new age of 21 entered an unidentified casino on Saturday. The rule-breaker was quickly caught and Manuel das Neves, head of the gaming regulator, praised the casinos for promoting the new law in their venues and making sure anyone breaking the rules was firmly ejected.

Macau’s chief of regulation is expecting the enclave’s gambling industry to slow down in 2013. Neves, head of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, thinks that a high-rate of comparison from 2012 will have a detrimental effect on next year with no actual figures given as to what state the market will be in come December 2013.

Sterne Agee analyst David Bain was a lot more glowing in his praise for the market as he projected double-digit growth for 2013. His report on the enclave’s casino industry predicted 15 percent growth in 2013 and added that he thinks growth for the month of November will hit MOP24.3 billion – an increase of 6 percent against last year’s figure. He added: “Our December estimate calls for MOP26.0 billion, or up by 10 percent year-on-year.”