I'm sure a lot of you will be glad with the various tax concessions, rebates and allowances announced by Financial Secretary John Tsang in his maiden budget last Wednesday. The Government's annual fiscal report also revealed that total betting duty paid by Club was expected to shown an 8 per cent year-on-year increase in financial year 2007/08.
Over the past few years, the Club has overcome the challenge of the economic downturn and a dip in its racing turnover. We have maintained our status as the largest single taxpayer to Government, contributing total betting taxes and duties equivalent to a steady 8-10 per cent of Government's annual internal revenue in each year of the past decade.
In Mr Tsang's forecast, he expects the betting tax income attributable to the Club to increase by a further HK$90 million in 2008/09 fiscal year. Taking reference from the current betting tax level and the profit-sharing percentage between Government and the Club, I estimate that this forecast requires a rise in betting turnover of roughly HK$1 billion. This is surely a challenge to us under the existing operating conditions.
More than that, I also noticed from recent news reports that the Thai government was considering building its first casinos in tourist hotspots to attract foreign visitors. Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong people and it seems clear that the availability of these new leisure spending facilities, along with other emerging gaming entertainment businesses in the region such as Macau and Singapore, will bring even more competitive challenges to the Club's core business in the years to come.
I would like to put forward my view that the Government and the Hong Kong community are the ultimate beneficiaries of any profits generated from the horse racing, football betting, and Mark Six lottery businesses operated by the Club. I think there is a practical need for the Government to study ways and measures of strengthening the competitiveness of the Club, so that it can respond effectively to the challenges likely to be posed by these new casinos and other gaming entertainment business in the region.
For instance, our locally-based horses Viva Macau and Watch What Happens were engaged in the Dubai International Racing Carnival early yesterday and I'm pleased with the performance of Viva Macau in Jebel Hatta, the Group 2 race. Staying in 5th place early in the race, he appears to have a good chance of catching the leading horses and burst clear from the pack early in the home straight. He was able to keep his speed and put up a decent run against a very strong field to finish fourth, just one and a half lengths behind the race winner.
It's such a pity that the current outdated betting regime prohibits us from simulcast these races and offering our racing fans the option of showing their support for these Hong Kong runners. But worse still, it opens opportunities for offshore and illegal bookies as I know several overseas bookmakers had set up pools on the race and accept bets on these Hong Kong horses.
With top local sprinters like Absolute Champion, Sacred Kingdom and Tiger Prawn being invited by the Singapore Turf Club earlier this week to take part in the Krisflyer International Sprint at Kranji Racecourse on May 18, it was this outdated limitation in current betting regime again barring us from simulcasting this eventful race to Hong Kong’s racing enthusiasts at 8.40pm that night.
These two examples illustrate the area where efforts could be made to make things better. I believe that should the betting framework be reviewed and the restrictions on simulcast races be relaxed, such measures would be warmly welcomed by all our racing fans who truly love and support the sport of racing in Hong Kong. It would also enable us to provide improved betting services to our customers. I believe many of you share my views and I would be glad to hear from you. >>I share Your View>>
We are not expecting things to be changed overnight. Tomorrow, we will see some good horses running in 11 races at Sha Tin . I will be paying my special attention to Mings' Hero (Race 6) and Kenobe (Race 7) as they seemed to be maturing in their recent starts. Both horses will step up in distance to 1400 m and 1800 m respectively tomorrow. I look forward to their creditable performance.
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