Inside Asian Gaming

December 2014 inside asian gaming 43 Importantly, analysts also point to the extensions as evidence of Beijing’s commitment to Macau’s long-term development. “Macau’s 15th anniversary of handover to China falls on 20 December [two days after new rules take effect], which is when President Xi Jinping is expected to visit Macau,” said Citi Research. “We believe this is his gift to the Special Administrative Region.” Casinos Back on Table in Taiwan Fung Puts Barrier Reef Super-Resort on Hold Tony Fung’s plans for an A$8 billion Barrier Reef megaresort are in limbo while the Hong Kong financier waits for Queensland officials to approve his takeover of a small casino and hotel in nearby Cairns. Mr Fung’s Aquis Group, developer of the proposed 7,500- room Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef, said it “will be undertaking a strategic review of its plans and development timetable over the coming months” after learning from Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation that it wasn’t possible to grant all approvals by a 28th November deadline Aquis had set for closing on its A$214 million purchase of Reef Casino Trust, owners of The Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns and a sister property, Casino Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The OLGR didn’t indicate when the approvals would be granted, according to news reports, but Aquis said it was working with the agency “to progress its probity enquiries” with a view to completing them as soon as possible. The trust’s two principal shareholders—Casinos Austria and French hotel giant Accor—have signed off on the purchase, which Aquis sees as necessary to shore up its efforts to secure financing for Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef. Located on the north Queensland coast about 15 kilometers from Cairns, the mixed-use complex is envisioned as a phased development with eight hotels at full build-out, along with luxury residences, an 18-hole golf course, a water park with a man- made lake and lagoon, shopping, dining and entertainment and convention facilities, a sports stadium and a casino targeting Asian high-rollers, mainly VIPs from China, with 750 table games and 1,500 machine games. The government of Queensland has granted Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef a preliminary license, one of three the state has authorized—the others are in Gold Coast and Brisbane—to leverage tourism to boost its ailing economy. The takeover of the 128-room Reef “was always important to Aquis’ overall financial and investment plans,” the group said in a statement, adding that while it will consider a new bid in 2015, “there is no certainty any such transaction would eventuate”. The Reef casino currently offers some 40 table games and 500 machine games, which Aquis wants to increase as part of a planned rebranding of the resort targeting the domestic Queensland market. Separately, the Casino Canberra purchase is expected to be completed before the end of the year at a discount of A$3 million to the original $9 million sale price. REGIONAL BRIEFS Taiwan’s parliament is expected this month to reopen discussions on a bill to regulate casino gaming on the country’s offshore islands. “Lawmakers have to go back to work and review the bills with higher priority, including the casino draft law,” said Liu Day-Yang, director of the Centre for the Study of Lottery and Commercial Gaming at theNational TaiwanUniversity of Science and Technology. The timetable means the legislation could be approved before the summer. “I believe the Matsu county legislator will try to push for the bill to be passed,” Mr Liu said. “In the most optimistic scenario, the draft law could be passed in the first half of 2015.” The legislation as conceived would create a national regulatory agency to oversee the industry. The agency would issue 15-year licenses requiring operators to pay a 7% tax on revenues to the local government and 7% to the central government. Local residents have the final word on casinos, however, and so far, of the eligible island groups of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, all located in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China, only the residents of Matsu have voted to approve them. If the legislation passes, the first integrated resort may be completed by 2019, potentially drawing an initial 5 million tourists annually into the region, and Mr Liu said that a number of foreign operators have expressed interest in making a bid for any of the casino licenses the government plans to issue. The key to such investments would be access to the resorts from the large coastal cities of Fujian in mainland China and other major Chinese cities farther north, and that could be complicated by massive defeats Taiwan’s pro-China governing KMT party suffered in recent local elections. China does not recognize Taiwan as an independent nation but considers it a renegade province. Matsu Rendering of the proposed Aquis at the Great Barrier Reef