http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2010-01/21/content_9352014.htm
Singapore partially opens first casino resort
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-21 07:24
SINGAPORE: Singapore's first casino-resort partially opened yesterday, a key
part of a government plan to reduce reliance on manufacturing and brand the
tightly controlled city-state as a cosmopolitan Asian capital.
Resorts World Sentosa, built by Malaysia's Genting Bhd at a cost of $5 billion,
opened 1,340 rooms in four hotels, including a Hard Rock hotel and a property
designed by architect Michael Graves. Its 7,300-seat ballroom, one of Asia's
largest, will host its first event at the end of this month.
A Universal Studios theme park is expected to open in the coming weeks on the
sprawling 49-hectare complex on Sentosa, an island a quarter of a mile off
Singapore's coast. No firm date has been set, said Genting chairman Lim Kok
Thay, contradicting reports it would open next week.
The resort's casino, the city-state's first, is expected to open in March after
Genting's application for a license was delayed from October to December when
gambling authorities asked for more information. Officials have said it will
probably take three months to process the license.
Singapore-known for its ban on chewing gum sales and canings for crimes some
countries would rule as minor-strictly controls public speech and assembly,
although it has become socially more liberal and allowed greater artistic
freedom in recent years. The decision to allow casinos followed a rare national
debate though the government's desired outcome was never in doubt.
The city is also developing its second casino resort, the $5.5 billion Marina
Bay Sands developed by US-based Las Vegas Sands Corp and due to open in April
this year, after its original opening at the end of last year was postponed.
Sands plans to open a casino, 1,000 out of its 2,500 hotel rooms, a part of its
huge shopping mall, and one of Southeast Asia's largest convention and
exhibition centers as the first phase. Several other attractions at the resort
will be unveiled a few months later, including Asia's largest sky park.
The government expects Resorts World along with the expected May opening of the
Marina Bay Sands casino resort to increase the country's gross domestic product
growth by up to one percent and boost tourist arrivals, adding 35,000 jobs.
With a well-educated population that speaks English, Chinese and Malay,
Singapore is increasingly focusing on finance and tourism, said Irvin Seah, an
economist with DBS Bank in Singapore.
"Services are really a green pasture going forward for Singapore," Seah said.
"It's the area which we really want to fully exploit and it's where we have a
comparative advantage in the region."
Las Vegas Sands, the world's No.2 casino operator by market capitalisation,
does not expect its Singapore operations to cannibalize Macao's mass casino
market, its Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson said.
Adelson, who expects its Singapore operation to generate $1 billion in earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation in its first year.
The two resorts reflect an attempt by Singapore in recent years to ease social
restrictions and transform the staid city-state into a more attractive
destination for tourists, foreign talent and investors as the country
diversifies its economy to stay ahead amid stiffer economic competition from
neighboring countries.
The government decided to reverse its long-standing opposition to casinos in
2005 when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced, after a heated public
debate, that he will allow two casinos to be introduced into Singapore for the
first time.
AP-Reuters-Kyodo
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