The South American nation of Uruguay will open its fifth casino as a result of a decree signed last month by President Luis Lacalle Pou. The order enables investors from Argentina to build a $22 million casino and “upper class” hotel in the city of Paysandú.
At the same time some lawmakers are foot-dragging in submitting a bill on online gambling to the Chamber of Deputies that was previously approved by the Senate.
This is the second gaming project that President Pou has approved. Earlier in December he approved a project by Punta del Este.
There are existing casinos in Nogaró, Piriápolis, Rivera, and Victoria Plaza. Plus private casinos in Montevideo: Casino Carrasco & Spa and Enjoy Punta del Este Casino & Resort.
There is so far no information available as to when the facility, which could host conventions, will be opening. The company that will hold the casino license is Arena Paysandú.
The approval was a joint project of the Ministries of Economy, Finance, and Tourism, who together did studies on the economic potential of the resort project. Also providing technical studies were the Ministries of Transportation and Public Works.
Paysandú Mayor Nicolas Olivera praised the government for providing approvals in “record time,” according to Casino.org. The mayor also participated by recruiting the Argentine investors. Olivera said that the approval allows those investors to move forward with a project that they already have in mind.
The government plans to spend about $60 million to provide infrastructure to make the project possible. It wants to jump on board the regional and global growth of casinos.
Meanwhile the Lower House of the General Assembly is coming under criticism as to why it hasn’t given a “policy project” on online gaming to lawmakers to review and debate. The document laying out laws and requirements for an online gaming market was approved in the Upper House, the Chamber of Senators, last summer and forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies. Five months later the Lower House hasn’t acted on the bill.
Álvaro Viviano, president of the country’s Finance Commission, told reporters recently that the commission has encountered “radio silence by the Lower House” related to updating the gambling statutes.
Some are concerned that Lower House lawmakers want to protect the gaming establishment, which consists largely of state-owned casinos operated by “del Estado Uruguay.”
