Singapore to open second casino

AFP - Tuesday, April 27


SINGAPORE, April 26, 2010 (AFP) – Singapore throws open the doors of its second casino Tuesday as part of a 5.5 billion US dollar complex built by US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands.

Marina Bay Sands, located next to the financial district, will open at the locally auspicious time of 3:18 pm (0718 GMT). The number eight sounds like the word for prosperity in Chinese.

Singapore gave the green light for casino gambling in 2005, setting off a flurry of construction that went ahead despite the city-state slipping into recession in 2008 because of the global financial crisis.

Its first casino, the 4.4 billion US-dollar Resorts World Sentosa, opened for business on February 14.

Marina Bay Sands was originally set to open at the end of 2009 but faced repeated delays caused by a number of factors, including material and labour shortages and financial problems due to the latest global economic downturn.

Tuesday's opening includes the casino and 963 out of 2,560 hotel rooms, a portion of the shopping mall, some restaurants, an exhibition centre and the events plaza.

The remaining hotel rooms and suites, a skypark and more shops will open on June 23, while a museum, theatres and other stores will start operations later in the year, the management said.

Officials hope the casinos will help Singapore achieve a target of attracting 17 million visitors a year generating over 21 billion US dollars by 2015, boosting the services sector and reducing the role of manufacturing in the economy.

Marina Bay Sands is designed to cater to the corporate and convention crowd while Resorts World is aimed at families.

Built by Malaysia's Genting Group, the Resorts World complex includes Southeast Asia's only Universal Studios movie theme park, hotels, restaurants and convention facilities.

Las Vegas Sands also has major operations in the Asian gaming haven of Macau.



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