Macau’s gaming watchdog has named an interim replacement for its top position, elevating former Deputy Director Lio Chi Chong to the role of Acting Director.
The change was indicated in dispatch by the Secretary for Economy and Finance in Macau’s Official Gazette on Wednesday.
While only published on January 8th, the dispatch dates to December 26th, a week after Macau’s new leadership assumed their roles.
However, Lio Chi Chong was effectively acting director as soon as former Director Adriano Marques Ho left his role, given the subdelegation of powers granted in his role as Deputy Director.
Lio Chi Chong had previously served as DICJ’s acting director when needed for specific instances when the Director was not available.
The former Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Director Adriano Ho, was shifted to the role of Commissioner of Macau Customs on December 20th, effectively leaving his position vacant.
The most recent Directors of the DICJ had been pulled from outside of its internal structure, with Adriano Ho (who started in mid-2020) being a former advisor to the Secretary for Security and Paulo Martins Chan (who served from 2015 to mid-2020) being a former Public Prosecutor.
It remains to be seen whether the trend will continue and an official will be pulled from another government department to assume the directorship in the long-term.
Despite officially being the gaming oversight body, the DICJ was left largely toothless after a series of legislative changes in recent years, which shifted much of the decision-making powers over to the Secretary for Economy and Finance.
This role was taken over by Tai Kin Ip last December, who has been with the Macao Economic Services since 1995 and most recently served as the Director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau.
