Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2014 12 COVER STORY William Weidner has said he has commitments from a consortium of banking giants for around US$2.5 billion, a substantial portion of which also will be dedicated to bringing Matsu’s primitive infrastructure into the 21st century. This will include a ferry harbor and a bridge to the other main island of Nangan and electrical generation and water-treatment facilities and an expansion of Beigan’s single-runway airport. It’s reported that pro-casino forces are marshaling their resources for another crack at Penghu, where an Isle of Man-based company called Claremont Partners owns 10 hectares on which it wants to develop a gaming resort. Dongyin Island lighthouse That’s assuming the Tourist Gambling Site Management Act passes soon in 2014, which looks promising because the administration of President and Kuomintang Chairman Ma Ying Jeou has included the act with the bills it considers priorities, meaning it is slated for legislative review in the current session. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the government could begin accepting license bids for Matsu this year. Liu Day Yang, an economist who is advising the government, says the number of licenses has yet to be determined, but their number will be fixed, at least for the first 10 years, and they’ll be good initially for 30 years. There will be a minimum investment requirement. The tax regime will not be unfriendly: an effective 14% initially, composed of a 7% “franchise fee” that gradually increases after 15 years and a local government tax capped at 7%. There had been talk of a 20% tax on winnings, which wisely was scrapped. Regulatory oversight will be handled by the Transportation Ministry’s Bureau of Tourism and Gaming and it will be based largely on the Singapore model, which is to say it will be strict. Global standards will apply to the testing and certification of EGMs and other equipment. Advertising will be prohibited. Gambling cannot exceed 5% of gross resort floor area. Operators will be expected to take the lead on social responsibility and file regular reports on their problem gambling initiatives, which must include some type of system for alerting players to their losses. The casinos will be off limits to ATMs, and Taiwanese players could be barred on the basis of their credit histories or whether they receive public assistance. As in Singapore those running into financial problems could find themselves excluded at the request of family members. No credit or debit cards will be accepted from Taiwanese, and markers will be restricted to players depositing a minimum of US$2 million.