Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING SEPTEMBER 2018 42 Landing International Development Limited held a press conference and groundbreaking ceremony for its new US$1.5 billion Philippines resort on 7 August where the company went to great pains to explain its unique IR concept. Too bad the message was lost among the remarkable chain of events that followed. By Ben Blaschke T here are many critics out there but each time we conduct a presentation explaining what we are trying to do, 10 out of 10 people come out of these sessions understanding and supporting what we are trying to do with our resort in Manila.” Those were the words of Landing International Development Limited’s Chief Operating Officer Jay Lee during a press conference on the morning of the company’s 7 August groundbreaking ceremony for its planned US$1.5 billion integrated resort in Manila’s Entertainment City precinct. They are also the words Landing no doubt hopes make it through to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, currently the main man standing in the way of its IR dream becoming a reality. As readers of our IAG Breakfast Briefing e-newsletter would know, the groundbreaking ceremony was ultimately overshadowed by news that the entire board of the company’s Philippines partner – Nayong Pilipino Foundation – were fired by Duterte that very day over the terms of the land lease deal it had signed with Landing, described by the President as “grossly disadvantageous.” He has since ordered a full probe into the deal, followed more recently by a proclamation that no new casinos would be allowed in the Philippines under his watch. Frustratingly for Landing, the details of its Manila integrated resort – to be named NayonLanding should it actually get off the ground – have been lost in the furore. So what exactly is it that the company plans to build? “I was quite surprised that for such a huge metropolitan THRILLER IN MANILA “ FEATURES