Bee Macau, the playing card manufacturing venture of Belgium’s Cartamundi and Hong Kong-listed Asia Pioneer Entertainment (APE), has held its grand opening, with selected Bee casino decks now set to carry a “Made in Macau” label.
Cartamundi is a seventh-generation, family-owned playing card maker headquartered in Belgium, while APE (HKEX: 8400) supplies gaming equipment to casinos in Macau and other Asian markets.
The venture describes the plant as Macau’s first professional-grade playing card facility and believes it is among the largest Belgian commercial investments in the city to date. It brings production of the Bee brand to Macau for the first time, serving gaming operators in the city and across Asia-Pacific, according to a press release issued for the opening.
The ceremony followed five years of planning, technology development, testing and pilot production. The factory entered full-scale commercial production in May, after trial runs and initial deliveries to Asian gaming operators. APE has previously put the investment at about HK$500 million ($64 million).
Local production
“For more than a century, Bee cards were imported into Asia,” said Herman Ng, chief executive and executive director of APE, describing the opening as a symbolic shift in Macau’s industrial development.
Cartamundi Group chief executive Stefaan Merckx said the company’s name, Latin for “cards for the world,” reflected an approach that combines global expertise with local partnerships.
The facility uses automation, robotics and AI-assisted quality control, along with integrated track-and-trace technology and supply chain authentication. Bee Macau chairman Jason Pearce said the industry had asked for higher standards in security, traceability and environmental responsibility, and that the plant combines embedded authentication, AI-assisted quality assurance and sustainable packaging to meet them.
The venture is one of several growth projects for APE, which has also been expanding its overseas licensing to include Japan.
