CEO of Fisherman’s Wharf David Chow is a prominent property developer, a member of Macau’s Legislative Assembly, and founder of the Association for the Promotion and Development of Macau.

ANYONE looking for a slice of the action in Macau will sooner or later come across the name of David Chow Kamfai, a local politician, businessman, visionary, and family man who has proved that in the long run the better, more competitive ventures will keep on winning. With the grandiosity and eccentricity of William Randolph Hearst, Mr. Chow is building his name as an international tycoon.
His importance as a local entrepreneur becomes clear once his multiple business cards are laid on the table: CEO of one of the most ambitious tourism projects the Pearl River Delta has ever seen, owner of a world-class hotel and office complex in Macau, owner of a luxurious private club, and a dynamic politician and active diplomat.

Whichever hat he chooses to wear, one thing is certain: Mr. Chow believes in Macau and is willing to invest in improving the enclave’s future. “I love Macau and want to help develop it,” says Mr. Chow. “I have been fortunate when it comes to money, so I want to put my energy into making it a better place for families and for adults.” Such a vision started to crystallize in 2002, when Macau’s four-decade-long gambling monopoly finally came to an end and David Chow became one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Born in Hong Kong in 1950 with a silver spoon in his mouth, David Chow’s life has been speckled with opulence, extravagance and controversy. In his early years he set off to America in search of himself, and quickly learned his trade in the casino business. There he spent 11 years building up a reputation as one of the most successful and high profile junket operators in the world.

Armed with a vision that can only be described as daring, a young David Chow returned to Macau and began to make his mark on the small Portuguese enclave. Upon his return, his idea of introducing his same highly successful and lucrative junket operations was greeted with disdain by nay-sayers and the conservative old guard, but Mr. Chow quickly began to reap the rewards of his experience in America, and, not for the first time, proved his doubters wrong.

Despite his many years in America, Mr. Chow’s vision for Macau is very different from that of Vegas. “I don’t want Macau to be referred to as Las Vegas in Asia,” he explains. “This is a different kind of destination: here we have culture and a vastly different market.” That market comes in the shape of the 1.3 billion people in neighboring China, whose rising wealth, coupled with the liberalization of the local gaming industry, is putting Macau on track for an investment boom.

One need only look at David Chow’s track record to envision the scale of what is to come. One of his greatest achievements to date is the Landmark building, which he began developing in the 1990s. Whilst many entrepreneurs were put off by the slump of the 90s, Mr. Chow’s determination never once wavered and, in 1997, Macau witnessed the grand opening of the million-square-foot office-cum-serviced apartment Landmark, with celebrity violin virtuoso Vanessa Mae performing at the opening ceremony. Then, in 2003, Chow officially opened the five-star Landmark Hotel, a 451-room luxury hotel that now ranks among the very best in Macau, with occupancy rates perpetually above the 80% mark.

A vital part of the Landmark’s success is its plush casino – the Legend Club – where Mr. Chow made use of his intimate knowledge of the Macau gaming industry to create an exclusive establishment for VIP gamblers from mainland China. A club whose luxury has to be seen to be believed, the Legend Club has become synonymous with lavishness: such opulence can be found in San Simeon, the Hotel de Paris, or the London Ritz. To the disbelief of his critics, The Legend Club quickly became one of the most successful sub-licensed casinos in Macau: its fleet of limousines and luxurious custom-made super yachts underscored a brand that soon became legendary both in Macau and overseas.

“The Legend Club was the culmination of several years' planning and development, during which no effort was spared to bring members the very best,” says Mr. Chow. “We combined a genuinely sophisticated ambience with state-of-the-art sporting equipment, entertainment, and a wide selection of opulent gaming rooms.”

These gaming rooms are decorated in styles that range from a lush tropical rain forest to a sky-lit Italian palace and baroque French villa. Further to this, Mr. Chow transformed the second, third and fourth floors of the Landmark into the Egyptian-themed Pharaoh’s Palace Casino, meaning that people no longer have far to travel to see the hieroglyphs of Egypt or the monument of King Tutankhamen. Pharaoh’s Palace has become one of the most lucrative casinos in Macau, with each of its 60 tables earning a small fortune on a daily basis.

The reformation of Macau’s gaming sector has opened the doors of its five billion dollar casino industry to American operators, ending the monopoly of local tycoon Stanley Ho. Mr. Chow welcomes the competition, believing it should benefit Macau: “I am unfazed by the arrival of the American operators here,” he says. “Competition is my life, it is in my blood.” However, he is concerned about some figures of investment that are being talked about. “As a responsible legislator, it strikes me as over-ambitious and ill-advised for foreign investors to spend billions of dollars on hotel and tourism complexes, as I cannot see how their shareholders can expect any return.” According to Mr. Chow, it is good to build up Macau, but there is such a thing as overbuilding, and too much, too soon would do more harm than good.

David Chow’s responsibilities as a legislator date back to 1996, when he ran for the Legislative Assembly of Macau. Encouraged by the strong membership in the Association for the Promotion and Development of Macau (Aprodem), an association which he himself founded, he won a seat by direct election, and became a force to be reckoned with in Macau. Showing his political prowess in the Assembly, Mr. Chow set about serving the underprivileged of Macau, founding numerous charitable associations and foundations.

After the departure of the Portuguese administration in 1999, David Chow decided to run for the Legislative Assembly again in September 2001. During that period, he boldly stood for a directly elected seat once more and was duly re-elected to the assembly. With champagne corks still popping in the background, Chow set out his vision to further contribute to the future of Macau.

Now, with the second phase of Fisherman’s Wharf awaiting approval, the construction of a new five-star hotel in the pipeline, and as the head of the 18,000-member-strong Aprodem, David Chow looks set to remain one of the most prominent driving forces of local development for some time. Yet ambitions for business expansion are not limited to Macau, and Mr. Chow is now aiming to raise his international profile by venturing into Cape Verde and mainland China. In Cape Verde, one of Africa’s most stable democratic countries, which, like Macau, is also a former Potuguese colony, the newly elected government invited Mr. Chow to be the honorary consul. He quickly visualized the opportunities offered in Cape Verde and has committed himself to begin the development of luxurious casino-resorts and other tourism related businesses.

In China he is building The Legend, a $250 million hotel project in Beijing. As you would expect from a man of Mr. Chow’s vision, it is not just any hotel, but a ‘platinum five-star’ hotel, a new category introduced by the Chinese Ministry of Tourism in 2004. Construction of this luxury hotel – which will have 24-hour butler service on each of its executive floors – began at the end of 2004 and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. As Mr. Chow sets his sights on this and other projects abroad, he remains firmly rooted in Macau. And, like Macau itself, Chow appears to be one of Asia’s rising stars.

Visitors will be greeted by an artificial volcano, a convention center, a Roman amphitheater, and a blend of buildings invoking cultures from around the world.