Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2009 18 S urprisingly, the cradle of humanity is also a test bed for casino slot products aimed at AsiansAfrica may seem an unlikely testing ground for slot machines targeted at Asian players. Globalisation has, though, made big changes to the way the gaming industry operates, and Africa is no exception, says John A. Robbins. Mr Robbins is a gaming executive with more than 30 years of experience, including an executive role with Sol Kerzner’s Sun International group, which has extensive gaming and leisure interests across southern Africa. Recently, Mr Robbins, chairman of a Gibraltar-based company called KaiRo International, has been travelling in Asia looking at possible gaming business opportunities in Indochina. The idea is to transfer the knowledge he’s gained in serving the many East Asian customers found in African casinos back to Asia proper. Inside Asian Gaming spoke to Mr Robbins in Hong Kong on one of his recent visits to Asia. “The guys I’ve been talking to about possibly doing business in Asia, they say ‘You don’t know how things work out here.’ I disagree with that. I left the UK in the 1970s, and I’ve been in and out of Africa for 30 years. In that time most of my customers have been Indians or East Asians,” he says. Out of Africa Surprisingly, the cradle of humanity is also a test bed for casino slot products aimed at Asians