A Beijing-based investment group plans to spend US$2 billion to develop a destination resort with a casino in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
Yida International Investment, whose holdings include mining, real estate and health care, has signed a memorandum of agreement with the islands’ government with the aim of constructing a mixed-use leisure complex larger than Baha Mar in the Bahamas, which is also backed with Chinese money and is slated to open in December with William Weidner’s Global Gaming Asset Management in charge of operations.
The Yida plan calls for five hotels, 1,300 private residences, a golf course, a conference center, a marina and other attractions spread across 1,500 acres on Antigua’s Guiana Island, two smaller islands and a neighboring peninsula.
The deal was signed on the same day that Antigua, known principally as a tourist destination and online gambling hub, swore in a new Labor government led by Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who has “promised the people that my administration would bring the type of investments” that would transform Antigua into “an economic powerhouse,” according to news reports.
In line with this the agreement calls for Yida to invest more than $200 million annually in the local economy over the next 10 years and open doors in China for Antigua in hopes of attracting additional investments.
The agreement certainly signals a robust interest in the Caribbean on the part of Chinese companies. The Import-Export Bank of China is providing the bulk of the financing for the US$3.5 billion Baha Mar, which will feature 1,000 hotel rooms and a 100,000-square-foot casino among its first-phase attractions. China State Construction Engineering Corp., the country’s largest builder, is the general contractor and a limited investor and is employing thousands of workers from China at the site.
The Bahamas has since expanded its international airport to meet the hoped-for demand and has negotiated 30-day visa free access to the island nation for Chinese travelers. Baha Mar parent Baha Mar Resorts Ltd has opened a business development office in Hong Kong and plans to reach out to wealthy Asians in North and South America and Europe.
Malaysia-based resort conglomerate Genting also is expanding in the region through its Resorts World Bimini complex in the west of the Bahamas about 50 miles from Miami.
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