Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said yesterday that the government is reviewing its e-coupon consumption stimulation campaign for the peninsula’s northern district, which ended a few days ago, and studying the feasibility of launching similar ones for other districts as well, with the aim of continuing to support community consumption.
Lei made the remarks when replying to oral interpellations by lawmakers during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.
The government’s e-coupon campaign for the northern district ran between March 18 and August 4. Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng told legislators in April that the government had decided to launch an e-coupon campaign for the northern district first as the district (known in Cantonese as “bak koi”) was most affected by Macau’s relatively poor post-pandemic local consumption because it’s convenient for residents living there to travel to Zhuhai to dine out and shop.
The Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) said in a statement on Wednesday that the government had spent 29.75 million patacas on its 20-week e-coupon campaign for the northern district, generating consumer spending worth 150 million patacas for businesses in the district.
Lei noted during yesterday’s plenary session that the recently concluded e-coupon campaign for the northern district has achieved good results in boosting local consumption in the district as every pataca the government spent had generated consumer spending worth five patacas.
The policy secretary also said that the recently concluded consumption stimulation campaign saw a higher percentage of consumer spending made by non-Macau e-payment tools compared to similar previous campaigns, indicating that tourists are nowadays more willing to spend money in neighbourhoods other than the city’s tourism districts.
Lei said that the government was now reviewing its e-coupon campaign for the northern district and studying the feasibility of rolling out similar ones for other districts as well. If the government decides to launch ones for other districts, he said, they could get off the ground in the next quarter.
Rising non-gaming spending
Moreover, Lei also underlined that nowadays a rising number of visitors to Macau are younger ones, adding that visitors’ non-gaming spending is also rising.
The policy secretary also said that currently those visiting Macau to watch concerts and other performances spend the most per capita among different groups of visitors.
Meanwhile, Lei also said that at the end of June this year, 90.3 percent of medium- and high-ranking management members employed by the city’s six gaming operators were local residents, higher than the officially required minimum of 85 percent.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong speaks during yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo: GCS
