Genting Singapore Plc., the unit of Asia’s largest publicly traded gambling operator, may get the operating licence for its casino in the city-state by the end of February or in March, a government agency said.

The Casino Regulatory Authority received Resorts World Sentosa’s complete license application in December, Vivian Heng, the authority’s spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

“Based on the experience of other jurisdictions, typically such probity investigations may take about three months or more if all the documentation are complete and in order,” Heng said. “We have made good progress and are confident that we will clear the steps in good time.”

Singapore has said it hopes to lure 17 million visitors and triple annual tourism revenue to $30 billion by 2015 with the opening of two casino resorts, including Resorts World Sentosa. The Marina Bay Sands, being built by Las Vegas Sands Corp., may open in the middle of April.

There is “no fixed date” for when Genting Singapore could get its casino license, Lim Kok Thay, chief executive officer of parent Genting Bhd., said in the island state today. Four hotels and 10 restaurants at the US$4.5 billion ($6.3 billion) Resorts World Sentosa began accepting guests today.

A Universal Studios theme park in the complex is still waiting for a license to operate, Lim told reporters. The resort’s shopping malls will probably open after the hotels, followed by the Universal Studios theme park and then the casino, he said.

Singapore announced in April 2005 it was overturning a ban on casinos that had been in place since independence. Resorts World and Marina Bay are the only two casino developments approved so far.

 

{jcomments on}