Macao's gaming sector, which has been prosperous since its opening to foreign investment in 2002, could suffer negative growth next year, due to the slowdown of world economic development, said Chief Executive of the Special Administration Region (SAR) Ho Hau Wah.

In the first half of 2008, revenues generated from the SAR's gaming sector reached 58.7 billion patacas (7.34 billion U.S. dollars), a significant increase of 54.6 percent over the same period of last year, according to the SAR's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).

Ho said that after a period of fast development, the investment in Macao's gaming industry will "certainly slow down". The chief executive made the remark when answering questions from local lawmakers at the SAR's Legislative Assembly.

He said that the SAR government is still reviewing the development of local gaming industry, in a bid to find out a proper approach to tackle existing issues in the industry.

Previously, the SAR's Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tam Pak Yuen, also predicted that the growth of Macao's gross gaming revenues will slow down in the second half of this year, though the revenues were still expected to reach a record 100 billion patacas (12.5 billion dollars) for the whole of this year.

Last year's gross gaming revenues, excluding betting businesses such as horse and dog races and sports wagering, stood at 83 billion patacas (10.4 billion dollars), according to the DICJ.

The SAR government announced its decision to bar newcomers from entering its gaming sector in April this year, maintaining the scale of six licensed gaming operators. It also put on the whole industry a temporary ceiling of 4,000 gaming tables and a 1.25 capon commissions paid by casino operators to junket promoters.

The pinch of the economic slowdown has been felt in local gaming industry, as casinos run by one of the licensed operators, the Hong-Kong based Galaxy Entertainment, laid off a number of croupiers earlier this year, leading to a severe repercussion from local communities that called upon the government to protect their jobs.

Ho said that the government, in the past years, has established several institutions that provide relevant training courses to local residents who are seeking a career in the gaming industry, and it will continue its effort to equip locals with better skills so that they can secure their jobs in local casinos and other industries.

According to the figures from the SAR government, a total of 2,900 technical imported workers and some 10,000 non-technical workers were employed in local casinos. Most of the technical imported workers were employed to take on managerial positions in the casinos.

As a result, the SAR government has required all gaming operators to submit their agendas for the promotion of local employers with clear timetable.

In a meeting with representatives of local casino employers, Tam pointed out that the SAR government expected gaming operators to promote part of their local employers to mid-level management after a "reasonable period".

By far, Macao has witnessed the opening of its 30th casinos this year.

In addition to ever intensifying competition in the industry, new restrictions on residents of the Chinese mainland, the major source of tourists for Macao, visiting the SAR which were introduced last month also brought negative impact on Macao's gaming industry.

Meanwhile, the city's long-established gaming industry has to face challenges from new casinos in other regions and nations in Asia. The Las Vegas Sands is set to open its casino resort in Singapore by the end of next year. Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan and even China's Taiwan are reportedly considering to expand their gaming industries or to launch gaming businesses.