Singapore’s First Casinos To Boost GDP By Over 1%

It is now just a matter of days before Singapore opens its first legal casino, as part of the $4.5 billion Sentosa island complex developed by Malaysian gaming giant Genting.
In recent years, Singapore’s main third party manufacturing industry has been losing ground to big companies seeking to benefit from China and Vietnam’s cheaper labour costs. Therefore, in April 2005, Singapore decided to allow casinos to operate within the country as a means of generating a much needed alternative revenue stream. Resorts World and Marina Bay are the only two casino developments so far, to be accepted by the country.
Since 20th January, four hotels and 10 restaurants at the resort have already begun accepting guests, while the Universal Studios theme park and the Resorts World casino are awaiting their licences before operations commence. Marina Bay Sands, on the other hand, has run into some construction delays and will open some time later.
Following the hotels’ opening ceremonies Lim Kok, the Genting Group chairman, commented: “As far as the casino license is concerned, we are still working closely with the authorities through their checks and inspections. So in other words, we are still going through the motions. We are waiting for the gaming license to be issued.”
The Singapore government believe the casinos will also provide a welcome injection of revenue for the country’s tourist industry, which enjoys around 10 million visitors each year. CLSA Asia Pacific Markets calculate that Singapore’s casinos will produce $3 billion in revenue in 2010, increasing to $6 billion in 2013. The developments have also managed to create 35,000 new jobs so far, which will rise when all services are up and running, and the anticipated overall outcome will be to raise the domestic product of Singapore by at least 1%.
Gaming analyst at CLSA, Aaron Fischer, commenting on the exciting new venture said: “We believe they, Resorts World, will get their gaming license before Chinese New Year. We expect gaming revenues to be bigger. There is a huge gaming market in Southeast Asia.”