More Than About Gaming

Written on June 2, 2006 by admin

June 2, 2006 - If anyone is looking for evidence that the right decision was made on the Marina Bay casino resort, they need look no further than remarks by Las Vegas Sands COO Bill Weidner.

In a Bloomberg wire service story yesterday (May 31), Weidner was reported saying that casino revenues from its winning proposed property may exceed USD1bn a year. Certainly, the Sands executive has an interest in talking up the project. Yet, recent numbers from the company imply that the projection is realistic. In the first quarter of this year, the Sands' Macau property posted net revenues of USD281.6m. If the Sands expects healthy casino cashflow here, this is good for Singapore.

Nonetheless, we suspect non-casino-related earnings will also factor very significantly in the Sands' Singapore property.

Take another look at the artist's impression of the proposed complex. It's more "resort" than "casino." An art and science museum alone will take up 20,000 sq m of space. Contrast this to limits on the size of the gaming area–15,000 sq m. Of course, museums don't generate money like casino tables, but the plan is indicative of the "big picture"–like how Changi stretches the definition of airport.

Indeed, Singapore has invested so much thought, planning, and public consultation into its decision to allow casinos here that it has managed to guide bidders for the Marina Bay project–and eventually those for the Sentosa site–to not only target gaming punters but an entire range of leisure seekers.

The resorts are meant to invigorate the economy across the board. And it is the consistent focus on this larger intention that helped steer the choice to the Sands.

The exhibition and convention component of its plans, for example, will arguably multiply its economic effects far beyond what can be expected from gaming. The fact is, if all Singapore wanted was a casino or two, this could have been more easily accomplished than its plans for integrated resorts.

Finally, the decision to pick the Sands, which has no local partner, shows that Singapore has a clear understanding of its real economic interest. It's a focus on the big picture, not a matter of narrow concerns.

Together with the prudent level of transparency that has accompanied the process, this is further evidence of Singapore's free and open economy. The best idea wins. Period.

The Straits Times/ANN

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