Inside Asian Gaming

June 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 39 I n the April issue of Inside Asian Gaming , Tristan Sjöberg, managing director for Asia of casino equipment supplier TCSJOHNHUXLEY, explained why his company chose to base its Southeast Asian operations outside Macau in Singapore. The Singapore office has been open since last year, but is set to gain added appeal straight after G2E Asia as the latest products displayed at the expo are shipped straight to the spruced-up showroom there. While Macau has pretty much hogged the gaming limelight in Asia—and, indeed, the world—since May 2004, the suspension or slowing down of construction on the majority of its future casino properties has shifted the hopes of industry suppliers to Singapore. The December opening of Las Vegas Sands Corp’s Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) will be quickly followed by the unveiling of Genting Group’s Resorts World at Sentosa in the first quarter of 2010. Dr Sjöberg offers an update on the Lion City ahead of the arrival of its sprawling IRs. IAG: Have there been any developments since we last spoke that provide greater clarity on how things will shape up in Singapore? Dr Sjöberg: The Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) of Singapore hosted a half day seminar on how the licensing of suppliers such as ourselves will take place. They showed us exactly how they were going to implement the licensing, and what needs to be licensed. That was very useful for us. That mainly relates to the electronic gaming machines, such as slot machines, or gaming machines, such as TouchBet®. Where the terminal does the transaction, even if it’s cash-in/ticket-out, that will be governed by the electronic gaming machine act. They’re going to go down a licensing path similar to New South Wales, Nevada and New Jersey, which we of course encourage because it is a way to ensure good probity checks on suppliers. There has been more regulation TCS JOHNHUXLEY’s Singapore office Grabbing the Gaming Limelight Inside Asian Gaming is keeping a close watch on developments in Singapore ahead of the impending arrival of the city-state’s first casino in December. In search of further insights into the Lion City’s future impact on the regional gaming market, IAG caught up once again with TCSJOHNHUXLEY’s Tristan Sjöberg