Plans after Moratorium on Two Casino Licences Expires

Mdm Speaker, the 10-year moratorium on additional casino licences expires in 2017. During this period, our focus is to work with the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) to ensure that their attractions and services continue to meet Singapore's needs and enhance Singapore's tourism appeal.

Madam, has the Government received any requests from casino operators to issue more licences after 2017? If so, are these from existing operators or are they new ones? And what arguments have been put forward by the casinos, if any?

Second, what will the Government's considerations be in granting or not granting casino licences after 2017?

Finally, how is the Government tracking the social harm that has been brought about by casinos since they were introduced?

Mdm Speaker, currently we have no plans beyond the moratorium. As I said, the priority now is to work with the existing IRs to ensure that they continue to improve their offerings so that, as part of the tourism appeal and content of Singapore, they remain attractive.

For the last few years, it is useful to note that other countries in the region have also started to build or seen the completion of casinos. For instance, the Philippines will have five IRs by 2018 and Korea will also have five by 2019. Other countries that have expressed an

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interest to build IRs are Japan and Taiwan. This is the international competitive landscape in terms of major cities improving their tourism attractions. This will be one set of considerations for us as and when we consider the next steps.

Domestically, the two IRs contribute between 1.5% and 2% to our GDP and they have created more than 20,000 jobs. These are also the economic considerations that we have to bear in mind.

For the monitoring of crimes related to the casino operations, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) is keeping a very close watch. From their reports, we have not seen a substantial increase in crimes associated with casinos.