Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2019年10月 亞博匯 29 封面故事 annual office rental payments of PHP11 billion (US$219 million), one-sixth as much rental revenue as BPO operators, plus PHP36 billion in housing rents. POGOs employ 470,000 with salaries totaling PHP504 billion, compared with 1.4 million BPO employees earning PHP400 billion. CEO David Leechiu notes that, in case of a crackdown, BPOs would likely take up the slack in office space, but consumption from POGOs and their employees would be missed. For example, Leechiu says POGOs comprise the country’s largest van fleet to transport employees. PRIORITY REQUEST For Cambodia, billions of dollars in Chinese state investment trumps any other economic benefits from online casinos, at least for now. After China made its displeasure with cross border gaming clear, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen decreed a ban on new online licenses and that existing licenses which expire on 31 December will not be renewed. “Some foreign criminals have taken refuge in the form of this gambling to cheat and extort money from victims, domestic and abroad, which affect the security, public order and social order,” the declaration said. The announcement triggered an exodus of Chinese workers from Cambodia, especially Sihanoukville, along with Poipet, the kingdom’s center for online gaming. Sihanoukville’s transformation from quiet beach resort to aspiring resort destination and site of billions of dollars in Chinese investment in casinos, hotels and condos owes a large debt to President Xi, who made the area a key focus for his Belt and Road Initiative. Japan developed infrastructure for the deep water port at Sihanoukville but China is making the greatest use of it for trade. Factories from China are the main occupants of the Special Economic Zone near the 易所的房地產股暴跌，因為POGO企業的寫字樓需求為其主要收 入來源。幾日之後，杜特爾特以國內經濟將受重大影響為由，決定 繼續發展離岸博彩產業。 Dylan表示，「菲律賓絕對沒有任何理由取締該行業。」 PAGCOR於去年從POGO的業務中收取了大約1.5億美元的稅 費。建立一個網絡博彩業務需要15萬美元的申請及處理費用，20 萬美元的牌照費以及每三年15萬美元的續期費。此外網絡賭場還 需要為其博彩總收入支付2%的費用。營運商們表示，PAGCOR的 收費相較之前的監管機構增加了一倍以上，在某些情況下甚至是 原先的四倍。但截至發稿時，PAGCOR未有回應有關離岸博彩監管 的問題。 物業咨詢公司Leechiu Property Consultants的數據顯示，在 今年的首八個月中，POGO企業取代了業務流程外包（BPO）成為 寫字樓的最大需求驅動因素，佔到馬尼拉大都會（Metro Manila） 交易空間的38%（這一數據為2018年的24%）及全國交易空間的 35%。據菲律賓新聞網ABS-CBN報道，Leechiu公司預計POGO每 年支付的寫字樓租金為110億披索（2.19億美元），而BPO營運商 所支付的租金僅為該數字的六分之一，此外還有360億披索的住 房租金收入。 POGO公司僱用47萬名員工，薪金總額為5040億披索，而 BPO則只能僱用140萬名員工，薪資總額為4000億披索。首席執行 官David Leechiu表示，如果打擊該行業，BPO可能將填補寫字樓 的空缺，但POGO公司及其員工所創造的消費將會消失。 Leechiu 舉例稱，POGO公司僅為了其員工上下班就組織了全國最大的客 運車隊。 優先請求 於柬埔寨而言，至少在目前，來自中國數十億美元的政府投 資超過了網絡博彩所帶來的任何經濟效益。在中國明確表達了對 網絡博彩的不滿之後，柬埔寨首相洪森宣佈，將停止核發新的網 絡博彩牌照，而現有已發放的牌照待12月31日到期之後也不再續 期。 該聲明中說：「一些外國違法份子利用這種形式的賭博來欺 騙和敲詐國內外的受害者，破壞了國家的治安、公共秩序和社會