PHNOM PENH - A CAMBODIAN tycoon will launch a US$100 million (S$141.1 million) casino near the country's border with Vietnam this month to attract foreign tourists and develop the country's fast-growing entertainment industry.
The Titan King Casino will open its doors on Feb 26 in Bavet, a town in Svay Rieng province, about 120km (75 miles) from Phnom Penh, covering 2.5 hectares of land and employing some 6,000 people, its owner, Mr Kith Thieng, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Mr Kith Thieng, whose business interests include hotels, fast food restaurants, a mobile phone operator and stakes in a bank and television station, said he wanted to help Cambodia's entertainment sector rebound after the global economic crisis.
'Most gamblers will be Vietnamese but my goal is also to attract people from other countries,' he said. 'I want to promote the fact that Cambodia has enough places for entertainment.' Tourism is the impoverished country's second-biggest earner after its agriculture sector.
Cambodia generated revenues of US$19 million from its 29 casinos in 2008, according to Finance Ministry data.
That fell to US$17 million last year, with the decline attributed to a fall in tourist arrivals and rising border tensions with neighbouring Thailand. -- REUTERS
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Cambodia to launch casino
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment