No New Casinos in Sri Lanka, PM Says

Sun, Jul 31, 2016

Any chance that Sri Lanka’s 18-month-old government would soften its opposition to new casinos was laid to rest by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (l.). Speaking at a recent business forum in Singapore he said “no investor would be provided space” to develop a gaming property in the island nation.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has put an end to any speculation that his government will allow new casinos in the South Asia island nation.

Casino giant Crown Resorts had been tentatively approved by the previous government to develop a US$400 million gaming resort in the capital of Colombo, one of three major gaming projects that had been OK’d. But in December 2014, newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena pledged to cancel the Crown license, and in January 2015, the new government moved to block all three.

Wickremensinghe’s latest statement came during a recent business conference in Singapore and was issued in response to a question from an attendee at the conference.

“No investor would be provided space to begin the casino industry within Sri Lanka,” the prime minister was reported saying.

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