Macau’s “unmatched” supply of world-class integrated resorts (IRs) is one of the key factors in the city’s economic diversification drive, Sands China Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Grant Chum Kwan Lock stressed in his opening keynote address during yesterday’s G2E Asia at The Venetian Macao yesterday.
Themed “Evolving Together: Advancing Macao’s Diversification Through Integration, Innovation, and Inclusion”, Chum spoke about the vision behind The Venetian Macao and the foundation it provided in Cotai. He also highlighted Sands China’s key events and initiatives over the years from hosting performances to large-scale events, among others.
Touching on economic diversification, Chum suggested that there are three key factors in Macau’s success that will also continue to support the city in the years to come, those being political stability, demand potential, and the city’s supply of IRs.
Particularly on the supply side, Chum pointed out that Macau has an “unparalleled, unmatched critical mass of first class integrated resorts in every sense”.
Chum pointed out: “For jurisdictions looking to liberalise, cities are looking to add one, two, hopefully, of these amazing integrated resorts with all of the diversity within the same building. But Macau, in Cotai, depending on how you count it, there are 10 to 11 world-class integrated resorts right here, we’re in the middle of this. It is almost impossible to imagine that over the next one decade, two decades, three decades, there could be another city in the region that could rival this critical mass of premium integrated resorts.
“The cost of entry is going higher and higher. The cost to build is forever escalating. When you think about Cotai collectively, what’s been invested here, US$40, 50 billion, that’s at the cost that the operators built at the time. So what’s the actual replacement cost of these 11 resorts today, or next year, or in five years’ time? We built this building, a 10 million square feet (929,030 square metre) building, one of the largest buildings in the world at the time, for US$2.4 billion. It would probably cost US$11-12 billion to recreate now. So Macau has an impregnable advantage on the supply side”, according to Chum.
Chum also went on to highlight in his concluding remarks that no other city in the world, particularly in Asia, can match the “critical mass of premium integrated resources all in one place so easily accessible in a wonderfully stable environment that is fun but also very safe for visitors”.
Meanwhile, the other points that Chum highlighted included political stability, noting that he believes that the “One Country, Two Systems” policy framework provides a “a very strong environment for investors and operators to develop”.
Chum added that for the demand potential, the Chinese mainland has grown to become the second largest economy in the world, after the US and ahead of Germany, with a GDP close to US$20 trillion in 2025.
“The story of Macau’s [economic] diversification is still unfolding”, Chum said, adding that while much has been achieved, more would be accomplished in the years to come.
Sands China Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Grant Chum Kwan Lock delivers his opening keynote speech prior to the launch of G2E Asia + Asian IR Expo 2026 at The Venetian Macao. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
