Chang had an interesting anecdote about doing business in Macau: '[During] the Macau government public tender procedure, all bidders [could] explore each other's proposals during [the] tender opening. There was tremendous transparency (including pricing, technical solutions etc.) between bidders after you submitted your proposal, and this is very unusual in our industry.'

'Different IT firms target different customers,' said Lawrence Ho, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Melco International Development Ltd. 'In Macau, there is a potentially huge customer base for gaming companies. With casinos expanding rapidly and continuously in Macau, the city is fast becoming a magnet for gaming technology.' Ho explained that Melco has established a technology subsidiary called Elixir, which he described as a 'premier gaming IT infrastructure specialist capable of offering clients with a full range of system integration and network services.'

'As Elixir focuses on developing gaming machine content and technologies specifically for the Asian market, Macau [would be] ideal for establishing a research and development center,' suggested Ho. 'Knowledge of Asian gaming habits would be conducive to developing localized gaming technology for customers in the Asian Pacific Region.'

Ho said that Elixir has formed 'a gaming alliance with Shuffle Master Inc., a market leader in gaming utility products, for a term of 20 years. They will develop localized gaming technologies for different gaming jurisdictions in Asia.' He added that the alliance agreement included 'an exclusive distributorship [for] existing gaming products of both Shuffle Master and its Australian-based Stargames Corp. Pty Ltd., co-development of an R&D center and a manufacturing base.'

'In the future, I expect gaming technology to dominate the IT market in Macau and as such having gaming technology expertise would be an advantage for those who wish to work for an IT firm in Macau,' said Ho.