Inside Asian Gaming

September 2014 inside asian gaming 25 Her connections and influence extend well beyond gaming, however; they reach into every facet of the region’s social, commercial and political life. She was elected last September to her third term in the Macau Legislative Assembly representing a pro-business, pro- Beijing coalition—the New Union for Macau’s Development, it’s called, SJM Chief Executive Ambrose So is its chairman. She sits on the chief executive electoral committee as a representative of the Assembly. She also holds seats on the Jiangxi Provincial and Zhuhai Municipal committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. As a lawmaker and major stakeholder in SJM and STDM she has been at the center of protracted discussions on the future of the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Macau’s lifeline to Hong Kong. Essentially, she has succeeded Stanley Ho as the public face of SJM. She was the one who revealed the details of the company’s plans for an extensive renovation of its wholly owned Casino Jai Alai, which are slated for completion next year and will include a shopping mall, cultural spaces and a showcase of Macau cuisine. When air quality tests conducted last year left no doubt that the government’s partial restrictions on smoking in casinos were failing, she stepped forward as an intermediary between the industry and officialdom. It was to her office at SJM that workers’ rights group Forefront of Macau Gaming delivered a petition calling for more effective restrictions, and she wasted no time in leveraging her standing with SJM and her legislative seat to move the government toward the total ban that eventually was instituted. It was astute, too, a little flourish of populism—she would be running for re- election shortly—more important, it ensured a level playing field for SJM, whose portfolio of satellite casinos, many of them aging and inadequately ventilated, were among the worst offenders. She was a driving force behind the joint venture that secured for Lisboa Palace one of its most distinctive elements, a HK$2.5 billion (US$322 million), 270-room Versace-branded hotel. The famed Italian fashion house is hugely popular among China’s nouveau riche, and the hotel at Lisboa Palace will be only the third in the world to carry its name. But it’s the 18 hectares she controls next to the resort that will play a far greater role in its fortunes. It would transform its developable area from the smallest on Cotai to one of the largest, and negotiations are under way to incorporate the land into its future expansion plans. “He’s the last guy I thought would be CEO of Marina Bay Sands,” an industry executive with extensive experience in Singapore says of George Tanasijevich. “He’s not a gaming guy.” That hasn’t stopped Mr Tanasijevich from successfully presiding over what’s likely been the world’s most lucrative casino resort. He helped shape the property that’s become not just the signature landmark of Singapore but the iconic integrated resort property that companies and governments around the globe want to emulate. “When working in Singapore, I gave tours of the casino to many international dignitaries that were keen to learn how to emulate this business model,” Ovion Partners Managing Director Peter Klugsberger, a former MBS executive, recalls. Trained as a lawyer with an MBA from the University of Chicago’s George Tanasijevich President and CEO Marina Bay Sands Booth School of Business, Mr Tanasijevich worked for a top US shopping mall developer and operator before joining CapitaLand in Singapore, Southeast Asia’s largest real estate conglomerate and, coincidentally, a losing bidder for a Singapore IR in partnership with MGM. Mr Tanasijevich moved to Macau in 2004 as Las Vegas Sands’ director of development, then moved to Singapore in 2005 to play a