Macau Business magazine l May 2024 l 20th anniversary edition
By José Carlos Matias – Director
Inverting a famous quote by Tomasi de Lampedusa, if one wants things to change, things will have to stay as they are.
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of this magazine and the group to which it belongs (Project Asia Corp.), we outline 20 changes this city has witnessed (we could easily have named another 20), along with features that have remained basically unchanged, in this issue’s special report.
Issue Number One of Macau Business, published back in May 2004, stated it clearly: “The Time is Now”, as we were “standing on the verge of an economic revolution”. A few days later, in that same month of May, the opening of Sands on the Macau peninsula – the Region’s first post-liberalisation casino – heralded what was to come. And yet even those expectations were surpassed in the ensuing years by a gaming-driven boom that transformed a once (somewhat derogatively labelled) “sleepy enclave” into what then became widely branded as the thriving “Las Vegas of Asia”. This breakneck growth brought a windfall of revenue and robust job creation, growth and development, but it also generated side-effects which still linger today and have yet to be tackled. It was a winning streak that ran unabated until the COVID-19 pandemic struck hard, and now we see the city regaining ground under a restructured model.
Taking stock of 20 years is no easy task. Macau, in many ways, lives up to the “Smoke Dragon” title of João Aguiar’s novel: its reality is ever-changing, and the past cannot be relived. That being said, preservation of our collective memory is essential, and journalism serves as “the first draft of history”.
In this magazine’s 241 issues to date, we have captured the ‘spirit of the times’, expressing our voice while also serving as a platform for a wide range of perspectives, upholding editorial independence, and cherishing transparency and social responsibility. That has been our raison d’être. We believe this city needs and benefits from a diverse and pluralistic environment, one where criticism is seen as helpful and is not met with thin-skinned reaction.
In this magazine, we’ve always strived to go beyond the figures, and official rhetoric, delving deeper into issues, while bringing businesses and people’s stories to the fore.
Having weathered the pandemic storm, Macau is now racing against the clock to meet the expectations of its people, of economic actors, and of the central authorities. Our current decade is a pivotal one, and it’s nearly halfway gone already.
At Macau Business we remain highly motivated to explore what lies ahead, here in this special city, the wider Greater Bay Area and beyond, from multiple perspectives and through local and cosmopolitan lenses.
This has been a fascinating journey, one that began 20 years ago with a small-step-big-leap taken by this publication’s founder – a pioneer in English-language publishing in the SAR – and the Chairman of our group, Paulo A. Azevedo. All that has been achieved has its foundation in the essential role he has been playing, in the talent and hard work of our team members and contributors, and in the loyalty of our faithful readers and valuable partners, suppliers and customers who have joined and remained with us on this two-decade journey.
We look forward to another 20 years and beyond: aggregating value, embracing change and staying who we are.
