What’s the role of Macao in the Greater Bay Area?

Widely known as the Monte Carlo of the East, Macao, with 80% of its government revenues relying on gambling and entertainment industries, becomes a preferred destination ahead of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

How to help Macao develop its economy and diversify its government sources of revenue has been discussed for a long time. Among the policies, the focus will be especially on tourism and finance. The favorable geographical location and the constant good weather can help Macao become a center to host important international meetings and events, like what Singapore does now. Besides, the establishment of a yuan-denominated stock exchange and of a renminbi settlement center can help Macao to evolve into a financial center particularly focused on start-ups and companies from Portuguese-speaking countries.

Macao also represents an important part of a project called the Greater Bay Area (GBA) that the Chinese government unveiled back in 2011, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development directly competing with similar innovative hubs in San Francisco, New York City and Tokyo. By 2022, it is expected to have formed an international first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster that is vibrant and highly innovative. By 2035, the bay area should have reached the status of an economic system supported by innovation and tech ecosystem and characterized by international competitiveness and influence.

It is expected that relations between Macao and Chinese mainland are going to become stronger. Looking at the big picture, it is not only in the interest of China to develop the GBA and support the growth of the whole nation, but it is also in the interest of Macao to develop and diversify its economy that cannot simply rely on a slowing gambling industry.

The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) should take into account examples of other economies (such as the Middle East). Even though they relied on a single industry, for its future prosperity, they have started to diversify to reduce the risk of future recessions. Macao has its own characteristics and strengths and most important, has the support of China to do that. In this sense, Macao is likely to further improve its world-class status, become more integrated to the motherland under the "one country, two systems" and turn into an engine for the development of the GBA mega project.