More investors, more tourists
Cambodia’s casino industry and the kingdom’s government want to attract big-spending Chinese gamblers. To that end, the country has approved legislation that will allow foreign investors to get into the gaming sector.
“When the law is enacted, we will not only be able to double revenue from the industry but also open the market to direct investment from major investors,” said Ros Phearun, deputy director general of the ministry’s finance industry department, in an interview with the Khmer Times. Without naming names, Phearun referred to “major investors from Macau and Las Vegas.”
The bill been passed both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and will now go to the cabinet and the Council of Ministers. The legislation “is not only good for tax revenue but also for attracting more foreign visitors,” Phearun said.
According to the Macau Business Daily, Cambodian officials and travel agencies are betting that foreign investment could also lead to more Chinese visitors. Cambodia hopes to draw 7.5 million international tourists a year by 2020, including 2 million Chinese tourists a year.
Tim McNally, chairman of NagaCorp Ltd., which operates NagaWorld in Phnom Penh, told Bloomberg Television the company is “Southeast Asian-centered; much of our customer base comes from that part of the world. We have increasing numbers from China and North Asia, but by the same token we are not totally dependent on that growth.”
In 2015, there were 75 casinos operating in Cambodia. They generated about MOP278.2 million (US$34.7 million) in taxes, up 33 percent from 2014.
