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SJM’s Leong says Macau needs to speed decision making


SJM Holdings executive director Angela Leong has called on the Macau government to take action to boost the economy, criticizing the lack of infrastructure planning and the slow speed of decision making.

“Macau is such a small place and the government wants to diversify the economy. But they only talk when they should say how they would support" the city, Leong told Bloomberg in an interview.

She said the government has done a good job building up its reserves over the years of strong economic growth, but "hasn’t made its planning very well,” in particular when it comes to infrastructure and transportation. She pointed to the example of a planned bridge between Macau, Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Zhuhai.

"Do you know how long we have been talking about the bridge? Ten, 20 years. That’s a long time,” she told Bloomberg. Her company is also waiting for government approval for about six years on her plan to build a new theme park, hotels and other non-gaming facilities next to SJM’s planned casino resort in Macau’s Cotai area.

Her criticism comes a week after U.S. casino tycoon Steve Wynn got into hot water with his comments criticizing the Macau government’s policies, in particular with regard to table allocation.

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