Macau to merge culture and sports bureaus into new department
Macau's Cultural Affairs Bureau, Sports Bureau and Cultural Development Fund will merge into a single Cultural and Sports Bureau, cutting nearly half of leadership posts. The restructuring aims to streamline operations while preserving service quality and funding for cultural and sports activities.
Macau's government has approved the merger of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Sports Bureau and the Cultural Development Fund into a single entity called the Cultural and Sports Bureau, according to a draft regulation completed by the Executive Council.
The current two bureaus employ about 1,100 staff, all of whom will transfer to the new body. However, nearly half of the leadership and management positions will be eliminated. The existing structure of three director-level and six deputy director-level posts, along with 13 divisions and 31 sections, will be reduced to one director, three deputy directors and eight divisions and 16 sections.
Leong Hang-man, the current director of both the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Sports Bureau, said the reorganisation aims to provide better public services, effectively promote Macau's culture, enhance public fitness and support the development of the cultural and sports industries. The transition will be seamless when the new regulation takes effect on 1 December, with no disruption to services, he added.
The budget for the new bureau will initially be based on the combined budgets of the existing two bureaus and the fund, which totalled about 20 billion patacas under the 2026 policy address and budget. Leong said this approach will not affect cultural and sports activities or subsidies next year.
The restructured bureau's responsibilities will cover eight core areas: tangible and intangible cultural heritage, libraries and archives, cultural and artistic development, cultural history dissemination and publishing, cultural and sports industry cultivation, cultural and sports facilities, mass sports and events, and elite athletes and sports science.
The Executive Council also approved a separate regulation establishing the Cultural and Sports Fund, which will replace the current Sports Fund. It will operate as an autonomous fund under the supervision of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, housed within the Cultural and Sports Bureau. The fund will be managed by a seven-member administrative committee with no subordinate units or dedicated staff positions. Its members will receive 80 per cent of the remuneration for pay scale point 100 under the civil service salary table. The fund will adopt unified criteria for granting subsidies and awards to support activities and projects that benefit culture, arts, sports, the cultural and sports industries, and heritage protection.