New investment scheme for gaming investors eyed

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MANILA – Pagcor chair and chief executive Cristino L. Naguiat said on Wednesday that they are now looking at amending the present terms of reference in order to encourage new entrants to invest amounts not lower than $1-billion.

“If you ask me, it should be more than $1 billion, or at least $1.5 billion,” Naguiat said.

He noted that the Entertainment City development is already a lucrative gaming hub, thus resulting to less risk to new players.

Existing locator Solaire Resort and Casino and the City of Dreams Manila – set to open on December 2 – already started the buzz about the entire Entertainment City.

Aside from the above mentioned gaming hubs, two more casinos are planning to open in the coming years. These include Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada-led Manila Bay Resorts, and Bayshore City Resorts World, a joint venture between Filipino billionaire Andrew Tan and Malaysia’s Genting Group.

Naguiat also confirmed that Caesars Palace, a gaming giant in the US, is interested to invest in Entertainment City.

“During our recent meeting in the US, Caesars Palace said they have ‘overlooked the Philippines,’” Naguiat said, describing the international gaming group’s current interest in the country.

Pagcor is putting its hopes on Entertainment City to be the major contributor in the country’s goal of hitting $7 billion in gaming revenues by 2019.