Macao's scorching gaming business is keeping booming, as the latest official statistics showed that this year's gambling revenue reached 29.8 billion patacas (3.73 billion US dollars) by August, a year-on-year rise of 14 percent.

On the casino gold rush, international hands are seeking more play.

The Las Vegas gaming giant Wynn Resort Tuesday vowed to hire some 4,000 employees for its Macao project.

Grant R. Bowie, president of the Wynn Macao, told local media that the under-construction gaming resort plans to offer 150 types of jobs and Macao's local residents are to enjoy the employment preference.

Besides comparatively higher salaries, Bowie also pledged to offer future employees "an attractive package" providing a wide range of benefits and career opportunities.

Wynn Macao, boasting a 9,300-square-meter gaming space, will be the third casino funded by foreign investors in the special administrative region, the only territory in China where casino gambling is legal.

Having yet to clinch its actual opening date in autumn next year, the project, worth 5.6 billion patacas (700 million US dollars), has been donning media headlines for long.

However, Wynn Macao could hardly stand under the spotlight alone, as other international sharks are also betting their chips on Macao 's gambling blow-out.

Galaxy Casino SA, owned by the Hong Kong-listed K Wah Construction Corp, for instance, was among them.

Running one of the two foreign-invested casinos in town, Galaxy aims to invest 5.7 billion patacas (740 million US dollars) by 2008 in three new casinos on the Cotai strip -- an area linking the two islands of Taipa and Coloane.

"We are dedicated to making Galaxy a leading operator of gaming leisure and entertainment facilities in Macao," Lui Che Woo, who controls K Wah Construction, told Hong Kong media when its board approved the Galaxy purchase in July.

Galaxy's ambition is shared by Venetian Macao, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The firm is also engaged in an expansion with plans to build a 1.8-billion-US dollar replica of its Las Vegas Venetian resort, on the Cotai strip in the first half of 2007.

What is bolting the international tycoons' confidence?

Macao's gaming sector last year saw a total revenue of 5 billion US dollars, up 40 percent over the 2003, and only a shade behind Las Vegas' 5.2 billion.

Behind the rocketing jump is a growing stream of visitors from the Chinese mainland, as mainlanders arrivals more than doubled between 2002 and 2004.

Meanwhile, skeptics are doubting that the aggressive expansion plans in the 26-square kilometer enclave will reap as rich rewards as the gaming operators are desperating for.

The competition is growing.

Neighboring countries such as Thailand and Singapore, which have shunned gambling before, are now coming to see the sector as a complement to their blossoming tourism industry.

Poor infrastructure and rising wage costs may also be challenges for Macao and its casino operators.

Source: Xinhua