Page 16 - CESL Asia E-Newsletter - 5th ISSUE

hen Macau Professional Services Limited (MPS) started in 1998, Macau’s property market and Wconstruction industry were not as fully devel- oped as they are today. Macau is now a city bustling with casinos, hotels and new public facilities such as bridges. It is also planning to build some major structures, like the Ma- cau Light Rail Transit (LRT). This infrastructure will cer- tainly accelerate the economic development of the city. Two decades ago, only a few Portuguese companies like MPS provided consultancy services, mainly to the public sector. Should the Macau government run out of public funding, those companies might not have business opportunities from the public sector any more. Before Macau’s handover to PRC by the end of 1999, the situation was worse. Only a couple of years after the handover, the number of casinos began to increase, helping many Macau-based companies overcome their financial hardship in a small market with limited resources, and MPS was no exception. Since 2001 the company has supervised a number of government pro- jects such as the Olympic Swimming Pool Facilities. Does the development of the gaming industry increase eco- nomic benefits for consultancy companies in Macau? The 13 to embark upon a promising industry by working with the casino boom began in 2001 when MPS had the opportunity Venetian (in Sands Macau Peninsula casino). Even during the global financial crisis in 2008, many major projects of other companies were suspended but MPS was able to keep most of its staff. MPS is currently providing services in three different areas: design, supervision and statutory support to Venetian pro- jects in Macau. 當澳門專業顧問有限公司(MPS)在1998年開始營運時，那時的房地產市場和建築業跟現在的繁榮景象 相差甚遠。今天的澳門已是一個蓬勃的城市，到處可見到賭場、酒店、橋樑和其他新的公共設施， 澳門正計劃興建更多的大型基建，如澳門輕軌，這都有助加速澳門的經濟發展。回想二十年前的澳 門，只有少數如MPS的葡萄牙企業提供顧問服務，而這些企業的客户主要是公營機構。 倘若政府耗盡公帑，這些企業在商機上將面臨困境，特別在1999年澳門回歸前，尤其困難。回歸短 短數年，在澳門這資源有限的彈丸之地，賭場的增加確實幫助了不少本地企業在這細小的市場裡跨 越經營困境；MPS亦不例外。從2001年開如，MPS主要為政府監督工程，如奧林匹克游泳池設施。 究竟博彩業的發展能否為本地的顧問公司帶來收益？自2001年賭場興建熱潮開始後，MPS有機會在這 極具前景的行業上發展，並與威尼斯人(澳門半島金沙賭場)合作。即使在2008年全球金融危機下， 儘管眾多本澳大型發展項目都需要中止時，MPS仍可保留其大部分員工。 MPS目前提供三個不同的主要服務，包括設計，監理及澳門威尼斯人項目的法律諮詢。