| |
The
Straits Times, 9 Dec 04
Casino
giant ready to put in $1.65b
by Joyce Teo
AMERICAN gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment is prepared to pump in
at least US$1 billion (S$1.65 billion) to build a world-class mega-resort
cum casino here that will employ 4,000 people. The casino alone may
take up about 100,000 sq ft - the size of two football fields - and
create 1,500 jobs, its visiting president and chief executive officer
Gary Loveman told The Straits Times. He envisions the resort to be
like Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, with very high-end shopping, a
theatre where Celine Dion is now performing, a large outdoor pool
and spa, several hotel towers and restaurants operated by world-class
chefs.
But the details of the proposal it intends to put up to the Government
are very much up in the air now because Singapore has still to decide
on issues like the site for the project, the tax structure and number
of casinos it will allow, he added. Dr Loveman is making his first
trip here to meet mainly Singapore property developers that can build
the resort and government officials.
Although the Government says it has not decided on the casino resort,
it has said it would call for concept proposals from companies for
the project in the coming weeks. It appointed consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers
recently to assist it in getting proposals from gaming and resort
operators for the scheme. Dr Loveman said the Government is likely
to draw up a shortlist of companies from the first round. Full-blown
proposals could then be called, and if Singapore decides to go ahead,
it could decide on the proposals by the third or fourth quarter next
year, he said.
His trip here follows earlier ones by senior vice-president of business
development Richard Mirman and others from the company since June.
The 67-year-old United States-listed Harrah's, which now operates
28 casinos in 12 states across the US, boasts US$4.3 billion in revenues
last year. By May next year when it expects to complete its purchase
of Caesars Entertainment, it would become the world's largest gaming
company, with 50 casinos.
If Harrah's comes to Singapore, this would be its first Asian base,
from which it wants to branch out to regional cities such as Shanghai
and Beijing. While Macau is fast becoming a global gaming hub, Harrah's
has not gone there, said Dr Loveman, who was an associate professor
at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration prior
to joining Harrah's in 1998. 'We are very sensitive to operating only
in places that maintain the highest regulatory and business integrity,'
he said.
Other big casino operators such as Las Vegas Sands, Vienna-based Casinos
Austria International and Bahamas' Kerzner International have also
expressed interest in the proposed casino. But Dr Loveman is unfazed.
'We operate more casinos in more places and under more different circumstances
than any casino operator in the world. 'We are the largest and will
continue to be the largest,' he said.
Addressing concerns about the social ills of gambling, he also said
Harrah's has been involved in the development of programmes to address
addictive gaming for more than 20 years. Dr Loveman has in the past
year gone on US TV to tell viewers that they should consider not going
to the casino, if gambling is a problem for them. Harrah's TV campaign
is now two years old.
|
|
