The future of Macau is being considered by government officials, with a new guiding tool having been introduced yesterday. The new Five-Year Development Plan for Macau was revealed by the government during a press conference and includes social and economic goals for Macau, to cover the time frame of 2016 until 2020.

The goal of the five-year plan is to transform Macau into a world center in regards to tourism and leisure. The public consultation phase of the plan begin yesterday as a presentation took place via press conference at the headquarters of the government. This is the first time a five-year plan has been created and was done so by the Committee for Development of the World Centre for Tourism and Leisure. This task force was created by the Chief Executive to help transform the city in regards to tourism and leisure.

During the presentation, Lao Pun Lap, the Macau SAR Policy Research Office Coordinator, stated that the plan consists of four major topics: Strategies, People’s Life, Development and Good Governance. The intention is to create a new image of ‘cultural Macau’. This will be done in the hopes of elevating the competitiveness of the city and implement a strategy of prosperity via education.

The gaming sector is not mentioned specifically in the new plan, however, the gaming sector relies heavily on mainland China tourists as traffic to gaming venues. With the new policy, the plan is to bring in more visitors from further regions, which would be of benefit to the gambling industry.