Gaming lawyer Jose Alvares has urged Macau to embrace gaming innovation or risk losing ground to expanding markets such as Japan.

Speaking at a panel during the Macau Gaming Show, the Partner at CA Lawyers encouraged education and training related to new technologies.

Alvares is quoted as saying by Inside Asian Gaming: "Macau has a need to be on the frontline of gaming innovation. That means we need education, training, sending people to the US to study and learn more about these new technologies.

"We need to embrace these concepts or in the future we will lose to countries like Japan who will have no hesitation in opening their arms to the opportunities."

Referring specifically to blockchain, Alvares also commented on the Macau government’s reluctance to adapt.

Earlier this year, Malta became the first jurisdiction to provide a regulatory framework for blockchain, while Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission last month said it was exploring ways to regulate crypto-exchanges.

Alvares said: "At the moment, there is fear in Macau about innovation, online gaming, blockchain and all of these emerging industries.

"The government takes a negative view of blockchain but the headlines they refer to are all about scams. Actual blockchain is a proven technology."