Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | Dec 2007 34 Regional Roundup provements rather than to browbeat coun- tries for poor performance, the results show just how far Cambodia still has to go to meet even Macau’s standards, let alone Nevada’s. The report found Cambodia was non- compliant in no less than 38 policy areas relating to crime and fraud prevention. Basic flaws included a lack of a reporting proce- dure for unusual transactions, absence of a legal basis for extraditing those suspected of money laundering or terrorism financing, the lack of a specialist financial intelligence unit, lack of effective internal audit controls on businesses and financial institutions and the lack of effective powers to seize and investigate the source of cash carried over Cambodia’s international borders. David Green says:“The unknown for me is when they’re going to have mandatory transaction reporting.They don’t have it now and I’m really not sure what their timetable is going to be.” The Rest Of the other Asian countries considering gaming reform or new projects, Singapore is widely expected to set the gold standard in terms of regulation, but it remains to be seen how robust its ROI will be, given that as a condition of the licences the city’s gov- ernment has engaged in some social engi- neering and shifted the IR focus to general entertainment and tourism and away from gaming. Mr Green thinks that in neighbour- ing Malaysia , Genting Highlands may well suffer from the opening of the Singapore market, despite the recent praise heaped upon the resort by Deutsche Bank because of its current profitability levels. Genting op- erator Genting Berhad does however have its position hedged as the lead partner in Singapore’s second IR resort, Resorts World Sentosa, due to open in 2010. Strip poker Of proposed projects in the emerging economies, Vietnam is the most promis- ing in terms of scale of project and poten- tial international appeal. The Ho Tram Strip, a US$4.5 billion scheme planned for Vung Tau province, a coastal area outside Ho Chi Minh City, has recognised international part- ners in the shape of US-based Fontainebleau Resorts and Turnberry Associates as part of a Canadian consortium called Asian Coast Development Ltd. If the project goes ahead as planned, building could start in 2009, says Deutsche Bank.Plans for phase one include 1,200 hotel rooms, 77,000 square feet of gaming space