Inside Asian Gaming

Country report Singapore The announcement earlier this year that Singapore would welcome two new casinos to its shores within the decade not only broke a long-standing policy against gaming in the Lion City- it also gave the city's lagging travel industry some renewed cause for hope. Two resorts with casinos, one at Ma­ rina Bay in the city center, and one on the leisure island of Sentosa, soon be­ came the talk of the town. Singapore has invited 14 companies and consor­ tiums to bid for the right to build and operate the city-state's two planned casinos. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced in April that its initial December 2004 request for concepts for the proposed resorts with casinos had attracted 19 submissions from 16 companies. Fourteen in the running The Trade and Industry Minister said the government would issue a formal re­ quest for proposals from 14 companies: Eighth Wonder Asia; Argosy Gaming; Genting International PLC; GuocoLand Ltd; Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Keppel Land Ltd.; HPL Properties and Metro Holdings; Kerzner International Ltd. and CapitaLand Ltd.; Las Vegas Sands Corp.; MGM Mirage and Capi­ taLand; Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. and Meleo International Develop­ ment Ltd.; Peermont Global Ltd.; Sun International Ltd.; Tabcorp Holdings 14 Inside Asian Gaming September 2005 Where "casino" is a dir t y word in this mild form of new- speak, the "Integrated Resorts" or ]Rs, are being billed as entertainment hubs. Ltd.; and Wynn Resorts Ltd. Noteworthy among these was Asia­ Pacific duo, Meleo - a joint venture between Macau's gaming giant Stan­ ley Ho and Australian billionaire Kerry Packer. Two submissions, those of New Century Group Hong Kong Ltd. and Greek Mythology Entertainment Group did not comply with request require­ ments, the STB said. The final announcement of Singa-