Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2009 38 E arly indications are that Taiwan will adopt the sort of ‘Gaming Lite’ multi- purpose resort model adopted by Singapore and Vietnam—as and when Taiwan starts to build casinos following Monday’s ‘yes’ vote in the legislative assembly. While the notion of casinos in Taiwan naturally grabs all the headlines, the background information on the most detailed plan to be announced so far sounds more like Singapore and Vietnam’s schemes for holiday resorts with a bit of gaming, rather than aircraft hangar-sized halls full of slot machines and baccarat tables found in gambling-focused Macau’s ‘integrated’ resorts. On the Penghu Islands, an offshore archipelago long tipped as the first site on Taiwanese territory to host a casino or two, the talk is of an ‘international vacation village’. This would be a 120-hectare zone, featuring a tourist hotel of more than 2,000 rooms, a duty-free shopping mall, an international convention centre, golf courses and casinos. Penghu county magistrate Peter Lin said in remarks quoted in the regional media that the gaming industry would be small and heavily regulated, with resort development trending toward hosting families. Whether this is an example of the routine noises made by pro development lobbyists to head off criticism from environmentalists and other interested parties, time will tell. Another point worth noting is that the political campaign for casinos in Taiwan may not be over quite yet. The governing Kuomintang (KMT) used its large majority to push through the necessary preparatory law in the legislative Yuan on Monday by an impressive 71 votes to 26. It would in theory allow casinos in three groups of offshore islands: Penghu; Kinmen and Matsu. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party legislators voted against the bill, citing concerns about debt, crime and environmental degradation. Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou still needs to sign the bill before it comes into effect and some political horse-trading with opponents may take place before that happens.The locals inproposed casino zones will also need to be consulted in individual referenda. In two previous plebiscites, Penghu’s 90,000 job-hungry inhabitants gave casinos an emphatic thumbs up. But diehard opponents on Taiwan’s mainland are likely to try and rally any antis in what could be an emotional new referendum campaign. Taiwan’s legislature will also need to amend another law called the Statute of Offshore Island Development, according to officials of the Public Construction Commission quoted in the local media. That could take time, and as the saying goes, a week is a long time in politics. And from an investor’s viewpoint the number of casino licences issued and Casino Lite ‘Casino Lite’ for Taiwan Gaming?