By Steven Mihailovich
Steven@LVPress.com
A high level delegation representing three ministries from Singapore swung through Las Vegas last week to meet with top gaming operators and one related agency to gather information about the feasibility of gaming in the Asian city-state.
The Singapore government has been giving serious consideration to legalizing gambling in order to boost the country's position in southeast Asia's emerging travel and leisure market as well as create new sources of job creation, and tax and other revenues as the growing regional economy expects to reach almost $1,000 billion this year.
The 20-member delegation was selected from three Singapore government ministries, including the Finance, Trade and Industry, and Community Development and Sports ministries, that would be directly involved in most aspects of any eventual casino operation should gaming be legalized.
Meeting with Strip casino executives from Caesar's Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, operators of the Venetian, and MGM Mirage as well as members of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, the group's visit demonstrates the country's commitment to seriously consider lifting the current ban on gambling by doing research on the models being successfully practiced around the world.
The possibility of legalized gambling in Singapore was first raised in April during parliamentary debates on the budget. Government ministers broached the possibility of allowing a casino at a planned 1,235-acre resort and residential development on the islet of Sentosa.
The Singapore Government is considering gaming on Sentosa to boost its position as a tourist destination. Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had commented that restrictions on foreign ownership of land would need to be lifted and in March, Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo raised the possibility of gaming to sharpen Sentosa'a appeal, according to an Agence France Presse report.
After visiting the world renowned Atlantis casino on the Bahamas, the delegation studied the industry in Las Vegas in mid-May to learn about the regulatory, tax, operational and financial structures used in the gaming industry here as well as the potential social impact. The latter is a crucial issue for the final outcome in the gambling debate on Singapore.
Ron Reese, director of corporate communications for the Venetian, could not reveal details of the meeting but said most of his company's top officials were in Macau, China to trumpet the launching of a Venetian casino there.
Venetian president and COO William Weidner was, however, in Singapore to attend a hospitality conference at the time the delegation was here. The executive described Singapore as "a tremendous opportunity," Reese added.
The fact-finding mission from Singapore signals an intensifying effort to understand all the benefits and problems associated with gambling as it follows the release of three-part series published on May 15-17 in Singapore's leading and respected business daily, The Business Times.
Written by associate editor Vikram Khanna following his visit to the valley in early May, the Business Times' articles explore the numerous facets to gaming operations here in order to move the public debate over the legalization question.
Jonathan Galaviz is president of the Singapore Association of Nevada, a non-profit group promoting economic and cultural ties between the two states, and the gaming industry analyst for his company, Galaviz Investment Management.
Although not privy to the visit, Galaviz says the visit showed Singapore's intent to give the issue of legal gambling serious consideration and almost guarantees that the issue will come before the Singapore Parliament for a vote within six months.
If gambling is legalized, the road to actually setting up the legal and regulatory environment, and securing a gaming company to build and operate will move just as quickly. Galaviz believes that even with the visit, Las Vegas companies are far from certain to be selected, as Singapore will live up to its reputation for thoroughness and probably investigate all the major gaming prototypes such as Monte Carlo, London and the Caribbean, before deciding on which best suits their needs and opportunities.
With Singapore business practices rooted in a traditional Asian culture that values relationships, Galaviz thinks that local gaming operators should be highlighting the Las Vegas model first to get it accepted in Singapore before trying to get the contract.
"If I was advising a Las Vegas company, I would advise not to fight who gets Singapore but work together to show that the Las Vegas model is far superior to any other in the world," he says. "Las Vegas operators have to look at this as the Las Vegas model versus the others. The gaming corporations headquartered in Las Vegas have to understand this."
Based on his knowledge of Singapore culture and business, Galaviz says the city-state would likely adopt the entire model, including the related regulatory environment that nurtures, to ensure that it succeeds.
"If Singapore did move forward with the Las Vegas model, in theory, it could have multiple operators because part of the Las Vegas model is laissez-faire and not having restricted [number of] licenses," he says. "In theory, every single Las Vegas operator that wants to have a Singapore casino will have one."
Although typical of its style, Singapore is also moving quickly because it does not want to be relegated as a second- or third-class gaming center in light of the current heavy attention by gaming companies like The Venetian and Wynn Resorts on Macau as well as the potential of legalized gambling soon in neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Indonesia.
"Singapore doesn't want to lose out to greater Asia or Southeast Asia," said Galaviz.
According to Galaviz, Singapore would be making a strategic decision to diversify its economic base by opening up to gambling. The country would highlight its natural edge, particularly in contrast to Macau, located in communist China, to attract gaming investment.
Those advantages include its central location in a lucrative market, a superior infrastructure already in place, one of Asia's lowest tax structures, a pro-business regulatory environment and an educated workforce.
With Singapore making the commitment to "do its homework", Galaviz argues that interested Las Vegas would be making a major mistake by not responding in kind and at the same level.
"The 'for sure' way for Las Vegas operators to lose out on this opportunity is to have their marketing people in Southeast Asia represent their strategic interests," he says.
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