| |
The
Business Times, 31 Mar 04
A Singapore casino may create 1,000 jobs
By Tang Weng Fai
Operators may also hit annual jackpot of US$235m to US$335m
A casino opening here could trigger an annual jackpot of anything
from US$235 million to US$335 million in spin-offs for the operators
alone - as well as help create up to 1,000 jobs.
This is based on the US experience. "The 249 casinos in Nevada contributed
US$9.4b in revenues in 2002 and paid US$718.7m in taxes to the state
government." - American Gaming Association The possibility of Singapore
having a casino was broached early this month by Trade and Industry
Minister George Yeo.
Since then, the project - to be located at Sentosa - has been the
focus of much industry interest, especially within the leisure and
gaming industry. All agree that it is a big business here although
many differ on how big it is.
As a proportion of gross domestic product, America's US$28.2 billion
to US$40 billion legalised casino industry would translate to an equivalent
US$235 million to US$335 million in Singapore. A February research
report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis on the economic impact
of the casino industry in the US estimates that the US gaming industry
exceeded US$40 billion in revenues for 2001. This figure includes
revenues from the so-called Indian casinos, located on Indian reservation
land and which traditionally pay no state taxes, that chalked up nearly
US$13 billion in 2001. Private corporate casinos generated another
US$27 billion for that year. The American Gaming Association (AGA)
- the US gambling industry's self-regulation body - estimates that
casino revenues exceeded US$28.1 billion in 2002, the latest year
for which figures were available from the AGA. Its estimate was corroborated
by a similar study published last October on US corporate casino revenues
by industry analysts The Innovation Group, that placed revenues at
about US$28.2 billion for 2002.
The economic impact of the industry is not limited to the immediate
revenues from operating the casinos. For example, the famous 'Strip'
area of Las Vegas in Nevada houses 47 casinos with another 14 in downtown
Las Vegas. More than 3,300 gaming tables and 75,000 electronic slot
machines take up 3.3 million sq ft of prime commercial space, generating
millions in annual rental yields for owners of the prime commercial
property that houses the casinos. An AGA study published last year
said that at the state level, the 249 casinos in Nevada (which includes
Las Vegas) contributed US$9.4 billion in revenues in 2002 and paid
US$718.7 million in taxes to the state government. This is based on
a minimum rate of 6.25 per cent tax on gross gaming revenues with
additional levies imposed by municipal authorities in the state.
The casino industry also paid out more than US$6 billion in wages
to the almost 192,000 employees that it employs in the state. In the
Singapore context, this could work out to almost a thousand jobs.
The spillover effects on other sectors like hotels and hospitality
are also considerable. Over 35 million visitors are attracted by the
casinos and other associated attractions at Las Vegas each year, enough
to fill more than 100,000 hotel rooms.
In Singapore, the size of the overall gambling-related sector is significant.
Song Seng Wun, an economist at GK Goh Research, had previously estimated
that taxes from lotteries make up a tenth of the government's $16.5
billion tax revenue. The legalised gambling industry here is big business
with other unexpected benefits. Singapore Pools and the Totalisator
Board financed about two-thirds of the more than $600 million-plus
cost of the Esplanade, better known here as The Durian. |
|
