Earlier this year, and for the first time ever, the Macau government unveiled a Five-Year Plan with the aim of turning Macau into a world tourism and leisure hub. Included in this plan are seven major targets:
- Improving the structure of industry
- Improving construction of an international tourist city
- Continuing to raise the quality of life of residents
- Raising the quality of education
- Clear results in environmental protection
- Strengthening the efficiency of the government
- Deepening the building of the legal system
In order to achieve these targets, the government is putting more emphasis on promoting local employees over expats. This includes a plan to promote innovation in ideas, promote Macau’s diverse culture and boost the quality of local talent. In line with this, despite the economic slowdown, the government will continue to pay cash handouts to Macau residents each year.
The new policy states that the government will guarantee the priority of local residents being employed, and that non-local employees should only be employed if there is insufficient manpower in the local workforce.
With regards to the gaming industry, the government aims to support the growth of non-gaming elements. Further to this, the government has set a target that by 2020, 85% of management in the gaming industry shall be filled by local residents (it currently stands at around 80.8%). Meanwhile, the government plans to increase the employment rate of local residents in the retail industry from 8.5% to 10% by 2020.
All this means that the number of Blue Cards given to non-Macau residents is being reduced in favour of hiring local employees.
The official Five-Year Plan can be read here (in Chinese). The plan is also summarised here in English.
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