Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING OCTOBER 2018 40 “I think the new gaming draft bill has the potential to be transformational for the industry. The policy goals are clear – it’s job creation, it’s protection of the player, it’s creating a tourism industry and also creating tax revenues for the government.” – Rui Pinto Proença FEATURE IN FOCUS added. “This is a challenging question but it has already passed through many different procedures and we are hoping the parliament won’t have any objections now. “The government wants to have this bill as soon as possible to ensure that the industry will be developed in the proper manner and also of course to meet the government target for tourist attractions. Investment is a must to help our economy grow stronger, more diversified and also for changing the country’s reputation for the image of attracting the high-standard operators of IRs.” Casino gambling has exploded in Cambodia ever since NagaCorp obtained the first gaming license in the country in 1994. However, gambling in Cambodia has been illegal for locals since the Law on Suppression of Gambling was enacted in 1996. Based on that prohibition, licenses have been granted under “exceptionality” principles, creating an unbalanced situation. The result has been a mushrooming of small casino operations in towns bordering Thailand and Vietnam, whose locals are also banned and therefore flock to these Cambodian casinos. Likewise, Chinese gamblers have shaped the coastal province of Sihanoukville, where the recent eruption of online gaming operations in particular made evident the need for the government to create a new legal framework from which it could control the sector. When it is enacted, the LMCG is expected to become the cornerstone for a newly professionalized and sound gaming industry. “I think the new gaming draft bill has the potential to be transformational for the industry,” explained Partner at MdME Lawyers in Macau, Rui Pinto Proença, who helped advise the Director General of the General Department of Financial Industry for Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, H.E. Mey Vann , gives an insightful Welcome Speech at the Cambodia International Gaming Conference. Cambodian government during the early stages of drafting the bill. “I believe in this case the policy goals are clear in the law – it’s job creation, it’s protection of the player, it’s creating a tourism industry and also creating tax revenues for the government.” The draft law, which has been passed through the MOEF and MOI and is now being reviewed by the Council of Jurists of the