Genting Singapore’s Executive Chairman Lim Kok Thay has confirmed interest in pursuing an integrated resort development in the United Arab Emirates, claiming the company’s non-gaming experience and the high esteem in which Singapore’s IRs are held would position it well to succeed in any tender process.
Lim’s comments were included in the minutes of Genting Singapore’s Annual General Meeting on Friday and in response to questions from shareholders on the company’s international expansion plans.
Pressed on whether it would be interested in bidding to develop an integrated resort in the UAE, Lim noted that bid conditions in Singapore, where the company runs Resorts World Sentosa, were for an IR rather than just for a casino, and that for its upcoming RWS 2.0 expansion “a big part of the investment should not be viewed as casino expansion but an expansion of non-gaming offerings in alignment with Singapore’s strategy to become an event-driven tourist destination.”
Lim added that there is a “landscape change in [the] global gaming industry” and that he expects more countries will follow the Singapore example in favoring IR developments.
“In this respect, the company is well positioned, due to it being a Singapore company and its experience with IRs, to pursue IR project bids,” he said.
For investment into the UAE, Lim noted that “an international tender for a casino-only development is unlikely” and that Genting Singapore “would be happy to work on an IR development in the Middle East, leveraging the company’s experience in non-gaming offerings.”
Lim expressed more caution in relation to Thailand, preferring to wait until details around the regulatory framework are made clear and pointing to the company’s recent experience in Japan. Genting Singapore had been strongly favored to win an IR license in Yokohama before a change of Governor saw the city suddenly withdraw from the race in September 2021.
Lim described the company’s decision to subsequently withdraw from the Japan process altogether as “the right one”, adding that “Until there is more visibility on the terms and conditions for legalizing gaming in other jurisdictions such as Thailand, the company will continue to monitor what is happening outside of the home market.”
He noted that Thai gaming legislation had passed only recently, was still “very general and lacked specific detail on rules and regulations and the bidding process,” and that it would therefore be necessary for “crucial details to be firmed up such as locations and whether local residents would be allowed to gamble or not” before the company can decide if it should consider a bid.
However, Lim expressed his opinion that, should the company opt in favor of bids in Thailand or the UAE, he did not expect the Singapore government to object.
The government, he said, will “generally not interfere with investment decisions of its corporate citizens” but “given the company’s gaming business in Singapore is heavily regulated, it is to be expected that the company’s decisions on foreign ventures will be subjected to scrutiny and review, and may be impacted by the need for partners to meet Singapore regulatory standards for probity.”
