Inside Asian Gaming

IN FOCUS T here’s a lot of buzz surrounding the reopening of Myanmar—ostracized by large segments of the international community duringmilitary rule from 1962 to 2011—to the global economy. Hundreds of world leaders and industry chiefs converged on the country in June for the World Economic Forum on East Asia. Addressing the forum, Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent compared the establishment of his company’s first Myanmar bottling facility to the fall of the Berlin Wall. That’s a grand vision, and the obvious caveat is that while Myanmar boasts 60 million domestic consumers, the vast majority are rural dwellers—76% are without electricity and more than 90% don’t have a mobile phone. The country’s resources boom has, however, created a very wealthy minority and is attracting foreign investors aplenty. The ranks of tourists in the country are also swelling. Standing ready to serve them all is an evolving gaming sector. None of it is officially accepted, of course, but most of it is tolerated and functioning without significant interference. Legal loopholes are aggressively exploited, ownership by influential individuals protects some of the operations, and a good deal of the action takes place in semi-autonomous areas where the national government wields little power. The country’s international isolation over the last Under Construction Touted as ‘the next Thailand’ on the strength of its inherent tourism appeal, Myanmar is looking to add legal gaming and integrated resorts to the mix. Indochina correspondent Richard Meyer looks at the country’s current gray-area gaming market and prospects Polo Club amusement center in Yangon The obvious caveat is that while Myanmar boasts 60 million domestic consumers, the vast majority are rural dwellers—76% are without electricity and more than 90% don’t have a mobile phone. 28 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | August 2013