The Government would collaborate with the Central Government’s policies in diversifying Macao’s economic spectrum, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Francis Tam Pak Yuen, said today.

Asked by reporters for comment on the Central Government’s decision to introduce further policies in facilitating Macao’s drive in diversifying its economy, Mr Tam said the Macao SAR Government and the Macao people would fully co-operate with the Central Government.

He mentioned that Macao had formed a working group with Guangdong and Hong Kong last month to follow up “The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020)” and launched several studies.

As for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Mr Tam said the accumulated surplus showed that the Government had enough financial strength to support its construction.

Speaking on the economy, Mr Tam said he believed that the annual gross domestic project (GDP) last year would grow by 13 per cent, despite the expected seven per cent drop in the last quarter.

Based on the preliminary figures of the first two months this year, Mr Tam said he expected the economy could contract by a relatively large figure in the first half of this year, due to the global economic downturn.

However, he said he expected that the economy would remain stable this year, given Macao’s relatively solid foundation and the figures of gaming revenue, exports, investment and construction projects.

As regards the gaming industry, he said that the key now was to maintain the stability of the business environment. Despite the drop in revenue, the situation of Macao’s gaming industry was better than that of many other countries.

He revealed that the total gaming revenue of the first two months dropped by between 15 to 16 per cent on a year-on-year basis. However, the total revenue stayed around eight billion patacas, which would be viable for the gaming companies to operate.

He said he believed that the gaming companies remained upbeat towards the market.

Mr Tam said the Government had not received any proposals in regards to financing and seeking business partners by present gaming operators, as reported.

He said he believed the companies would submit their proposals when the details were finalised, and the Government would view the proposals according to the law and the actual situation.