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The
Business Times, 13 May 04
Another casino in S-E Asia feasible: experts
But govts must be clear why they want to develop the industry
by Teh Shi Ning
(SINGAPORE) Gaming consultants say another casino in South-east Asia
is feasible, but governments looking to develop the industry must
be clear about why they want to do so.
"You can have a most pristine set of rules but a corrupt policing
force, and the enforcement function becomes the Achilles heel of the
system.' - David Green, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Macau's
gaming practice.
There is potential demand for gaming, Scott Fisher, managing director
of a US gaming and leisure consulting firm, said at the Asian Gaming
Conference yesterday. For instance, annual average earnings in Singapore
- US$22,820 in 2003 - are comparable to those in Australia and Hong
Kong, where there is strong gaming demand.
But Bill Eadington, director of the institute for the study of commercial
gaming at the University of Nevada, raised questions he said governments
must answer: 'Are we doing it for fiscal purposes, to support the
financial status of the government? 'Or economic ones, to attract
foreign investment, create jobs, stimulate a particular region? Or
is it to be a catalyst for a more attractive tourism or convention
industry?'
Prof Eadington said casinos cannot be allowed merely because consumers
want them. 'The gaming industry has very significant perceived or
real externalities and has to be heavily constrained, sometimes to
an extent inconsistent with the open marketplace's wishes.'
This raises another challenge that Asian governments must meet - establishing
stable and transparent regulations to support the gaming industry.
Prof Eadington said stable rules and regulations are not only the
key to 'weeding the bad guys out, but also ensure that you attract
players who are as keen to go by the law'.
But David Green, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers Macau's gaming
practice, pointed out: 'You can have a most pristine set of rules
but a corrupt policing force, and the enforcement function becomes
the Achilles heel of the system.' Other issues governments must tackle
include harm minimisation to combat pathological gambling and how
to handle excess profits or corrupting competition. |
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