The Government would closely monitor the impacts of the slowdown in gaming revenue, especially its impact on small- and medium-sized enterprises and its effect on the job market, said Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac.

He said without major changes in the external economic environment, he expected gaming revenue in the first half of this year to follow the downtrend of the past seven months.

The Government would launch a scientific prediction model to gauge economic development and get better knowledge on the situations including changes in gaming revenue patterns.

Mr Leong was speaking to journalists after he attended a plenary meeting of the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action on 9 January, where he stressed the Government had sufficient fiscal reserves to cope with changes that emerged in the current consolidation period.

The Government would be cautious in studying changes on gaming revenue and the number of visitors after the completion of new tourism projects in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

To be less dependent on the gaming, Mr Leong urged casino operators to put more resources into the development of non-gaming elements to further diversify the industry and tourism source.

It was the Government’s responsibility to provide on-the-job training to employees, including casino staff to enrich their skills and broaden their career prospects, he said.

The Labour Affairs Bureau and the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center would work closely with gaming operators and associations to provide tailor-made training courses to increase opportunities of promotion and skills to work in non-gaming workplaces.

When asked, Mr Leong gave an assurance that the Government would not change its policy on foreign workers, who are only here to fill vacancies that local workers could not fill. There will be no change in this without discussions with employers and employees, he added.