Building What’s Next: Macao’s Quiet Bet on Tech and Diversification
Macao Startup Club feature · Guest perspective with Tony Chan, Macau Chapter President, Asia CEO Community
Macao is known worldwide for hospitality and gaming — and that foundation still matters. What is changing, if you sit closer to how policy and capital are moving, is how deliberately the city is adding new layers on top of that strength: tech, modern finance, and founder-led growth.
For Tony Chan — Macau Chapter President of Asia CEO Community, and CFO & Executive Director of Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Limited (HKEX: 8400) — that shift is no longer abstract. It is a capital story with a clear metaphor.
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When the metaphor becomes useful
“In a fascinating twist of irony, the comparison is becoming literal,” Tony notes. Under the MSAR’s Third Five-Year Plan (2026–2030), Macao is executing a strategic blueprint that public reporting puts at roughly MOP 130 billion — about US$16.1 billion — aimed at diversifying away from casino dependency. The city is actively “betting” on infrastructure, modern finance, fintech, high technology, and the digital economy, expanding beyond a single industry narrative toward a stronger hub for startups, specialised finance, and tech-enabled industry.
That is not a slogan. It is a capital allocation story.
The plan’s “1+4” framing keeps tourism and leisure as the core, while pushing four emerging pillars: Big Health, modern finance, high technology, and conventions, culture and sports. The stated ambition is that non-gaming value-added should approach around 60% of GDP by 2030. For a small, open economy, that kind of target is not cosmetic. It forces land, talent, funds, and institutions to line up behind new kinds of companies — not only new kinds of visitors.
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Opinion: diversification only works if founders can feel it
Tony’s view, shaped by years with CEOs and operators across Asia — and by watching Macao from both a corporate and community seat — is practical.
A city does not become a tech hub because a plan says so. It becomes one when three things start to compound:
Credible capital — not only tourism CAPEX, but patient money that understands product, compliance, and cross-border go-to-market.
Operators who ship — founders and teams who treat Macao as a launchpad into the Greater Bay Area and Portuguese-speaking markets, not as a closed local loop.
Institutions that stay open — clear rules, usable programmes, and communities that introduce people before they need a favour.
“The $16.1 billion blueprint matters because it signals seriousness,” he argues. Fintech, digital finance, and high-tech industry are no longer side conversations; they sit inside the official diversification thesis. But capital and infrastructure are only half the bet. The other half is whether Macao can make it easier for a first-time founder to build, hire, pilot, and meet customers here — then scale outward.
That is where communities like Macao Startup Club matter. Policy opens the door. Founders walk through it. Networks decide how fast they move once they are inside.
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What he is watching next
Gaming will remain part of Macao’s story — and that is fine. What Tony is watching is whether the next five years also produce a visible layer of companies that:
use Macao’s bilingual, tourist-dense market as a stress test for product quality;
plug into Hengqin and the wider GBA without losing their Macao base;
and treat modern finance / fintech / digital tools as operating systems for SMEs, not only as conference topics.
If those companies show up, the metaphor lands. Macao will not just be a place that talks about diversification. It will be a place that underwrites it — with budgets, builders, and a culture that rewards shipping.
“The opportunity is open,” Tony says. “The interesting part is who shows up to build.”
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Meet founders exploring Asia’s next chapter
Meet founders and builders at Startup Fest Macao
Startup Fest Macao runs 12–14 November. Entry is free — come meet founders, builders, and partners exploring Asia’s startup scene.
→ https://www.startup-fest.com/
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About Tony Chan
Tony Chan is Macau Chapter President of Asia CEO Community, and CFO & Executive Director of Asia Pioneer Entertainment Holdings Limited (HKEX: 8400). He is founding president of the Hong Kong Web3 Association and a former president of TiE Hong Kong. Views quoted here are his own and do not constitute investment, legal, or policy advice.
Links
Asia CEO Community: https://www.asiaceo.club/
Macao Startup Club: https://macaostartupclub.com
Startup Fest Macao: https://www.startup-fest.com/
Educational / community perspective only. Figures on the Third Five-Year Plan and investment totals follow publicly reported government and media sources; please verify against official MSAR releases before reuse in fundraising or policy materials.
