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PMX moots second casino licence to help save Johor’s Forest ‘Ghost Town’ City
Update1
PM denies report of casino licence for Forest City
By Hana Naz Harun - April 25, 2024 @ 2:59pm
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied reports that the government is mulling a second casino licence to revive Forest City in Johor. - NSTP/MOHAMAD SHAHRIL BADRI SAALI
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has denied reports that the government is mulling a casino licence to revive Forest City in Johor.
In a brief response to the media, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister said: "On the casino licence, it's a lie, that's not right. Nope."
He was asked if reports that the government wanted a second casino licence for Forest City were true.
Anwar said this after attending the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Communications Ministry joint Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration here, today.
A Bloomberg report today claimed that Malaysia was in early discussions with tycoons on opening a casino in Forest City, in efforts to revive the RM478.35 billion property project.
Quoting sources, it said Anwar had met with Berjaya Corporation Berhad founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Genting Group's Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay last week about the development in Johor.
It added that Anwar, senior government officials and the businessmen had lunch and meetings over the possibility of granting another casino licence.
The mega project, backed by Chinese investment led by Guangdong-based Country Garden Holding, is aimed at middle-class Chinese buyers but has had trouble selling real estate to its principal investors in China and Singapore.
The development, which comprises eight phases, had slowed down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, Anwar announced that the area had been designated as a Special Financial Zone to boost foreign investment and simultaneously invigorate the economic growth in Iskandar Malaysia. - NST
Singapore's Straits Times continue to report despite PM X Anwar Ibrahim's denial:
KUALA LUMPUR, April 25, 2024: Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister (PMX) Anwar Ibrahim and his so-called Madani Unity Government (UG) have been reported by Bloomberg that a second casino licence is being considered to help save Forest “Ghost Town” City in Johor.
And guess who the Government are in talks with? Two cronies of the racist former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr M) - Berjaya’s Vincent Tan and Genting’s Lim Kok Thay.
As if there are no others or corporates qualified to manage a casino.
However, the casino industry in Malaysia is beginning to look like a “sunset” industry with the younger generation opting for online gambling.
The dwindling number of gamblers frequenting Genting Highlands’ casinos had forced Kok Thay to close down two of his three casinos on the hill.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below the Bloomberg report that was reposted by MalaysiaNow:
News
Government considers casino to revive Forest City, report says
It says PM Anwar Ibrahim and two prominent tycoons recently discussed the matter.
April 25, 2024 11:02 AM
An aerial view of Forest City, developed on four man-made islands, which has now been dubbed 'ghost town'.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with two prominent tycoons last week to discuss a plan to open a casino in Forest City, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
"Anwar, senior government officials and the businessmen had lunch and meetings on the possibility of granting what would only be Malaysia’s second-ever casino licence," the report said.
The report said that apart from Vincent Tan of Berjaya and Lim Kok Thay of Genting, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar "was also represented"
However, the report said the talks were "preliminary" and it was not clear how serious the government was about approving another casino after Genting Highlands.
According to the report, a spokesman for Berjaya denied any knowledge of a plan for a casino in Forest City, while the Prime Minister’s Office and Istana Negara did not respond to requests for comment.
The report comes eight months after Anwar announced the establishment of a Special Financial Zone (SFZ) in Forest City to boost Johor's economy and revitalise the southern development which has been labelled a ghost town.
Last week, Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi said a discussion on SFZ was held during a meeting chaired by Anwar in Forest City.
“Many other agendas were addressed, including the latest status of the JS-SEZ (Johor-Singapore special economic zone) and SFZ policy framework, the prospects of investors who have expressed interest, preferred locations, business sectors, as well as incentives and suitable investment packages to be offered," Onn was quoted as saying.
The Bloomberg report said the casino would give Forest City a boost after it struggled to attract buyers from China following Beijing's crackdown on capital flight, affecting its citizens buying property abroad, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project was fiercely opposed by former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who announced shortly after returning to power in 2018 that foreigners would no longer be allowed to buy property there.
"We are not going to give visas for people to come and live here.
"Our objection is because it was built for foreigners, not built for Malaysians. Most Malaysians are unable to buy those flats," he had said.
Forest City was planned as a futuristic "green city" on four man-made islands and was developed by China's Country Garden Holdings Company in a joint venture with companies owned by the Johor sultan.
Mahathir had spoken out against Forest City in the run-up to the 2018 general election, which led to the fall of the Barisan Nasional government.
The Bloomberg report quotes sources as saying that members of the royal family or "authorised representatives of the king" could be invited to take a stake in a casino.
MalaysiaNow has also reached out to PMO and other senior officials for a response.
Update2
Malaysia mulls over plans for casino in Forest City as part of Johor-S’pore Special Economic Zone: Sources
Sources with knowledge of the discussions said such a development is among proposals for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ). PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Zunaira Saieed and Shannon Teoh
UPDATED
APR 25, 2024, 10:36 PM
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is looking at allowing a casino to operate in the RM450 billion (S$128.5 billion) Forest City project in Johor, which would revitalise the troubled reclaimed islands.
Sources with knowledge of the discussions told The Straits Times that such a development is among proposals for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ), an integrated commercial and investment hub to ease movement of goods and people between the two countries.
Bloomberg had reported that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met Berjaya Corporation founder Vincent Tan as well as Genting Group chairman and chief executive Lim Kok Thay in Forest City in mid-April, with Johor Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who began his five-year term as Malaysia’s King in January, also represented.
Genting controls Malaysia’s only casino and operates Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), one of two integrated resorts (IRs) in Singapore.
The other IR is Marina Bay Sands, operated by Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
Two sources, who asked not to be named, confirmed the meeting at the development during Datuk Seri Anwar’s April 18 visit to Johor, during which the Premier proclaimed the southern state would be Malaysia’s most developed with economic growth outpacing the rest of the country.
“They talked, but nothing has been formalised,” one of the sources told ST.
Mr Anwar’s remarks were made after a series of meetings focused on the SEZ as well as a Special Financial Zone – offering special tax rates and visas – in Forest City.
However, opening a second casino in Malaysia could prompt political backlash from the Malay-Muslim majority, which the Anwar government is already struggling to win over.
About two-thirds of these voters backed the opposition in the 2023 polls to elect new administrations in six states.
The Prime Minister said later on April 25 that “the casino… not true, it is a lie”, when quizzed by reporters.
An official source said those involved wanted to “float the balloon to see what the reaction is” first.
“Interestingly, gaming is one of the key sectors to be promoted under the SEZ for Forest City,” he added.
Proponents of a casino see such a development as a boon for the 2,000ha Forest City township, off Singapore’s western coast and about four times the size of Sentosa, as well as for the wider Johor economy.
Several Johor-based businessmen also told ST that proposals for a casino in Johor have been mooted for more than a decade, as south Johor’s Iskandar region, conceived as a development corridor in 2006, has failed to live up to expectations.
“There has not been a strong pull factor. A casino would have major spillover effects as high-value individuals would make footfall here and boost other commercial sectors,” one tycoon with wide business interests in the state told ST.
Although Johor’s state government claimed on April 22 that 70 per cent of the properties in Forest City have been sold, it has repeatedly been dubbed a “ghost town” due to low occupancy.
Forest City is being built by a joint-venture company led by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings. Sultan Ibrahim himself controls about a fifth of the joint-venture firm.
Although Johor’s state government claimed on April 22 that 70 per cent of properties in Forest City have been sold, it has repeatedly been dubbed a “ghost town” due to low occupancy. PHOTO: FOREST CITY
Although building a casino is politically sensitive as Islam prohibits gambling, those who support the idea note that the existing casino in Genting Highlands has operated for more than half a century without any issue, as regulations bar Muslims from entering the gaming halls.
Many Muslims visit Genting Highlands to enjoy other attractions such as theme parks, restaurants and retail shops in the cool mountain air.
According to its annual reports, Genting Malaysia – which mainly runs the highland resort, a couple of beach resorts in Malaysia and small operations overseas – contributed nearly RM5 billion to government coffers annually before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
A similar boost from a new gaming-centred attraction would help ease the Anwar administration’s struggles to rein in the fiscal deficit, having inherited over RM1.5 trillion in debt and liabilities.
In a note to clients, UOB Kay Hian said that if the new casino materialises, it would likely not impact Genting Highlands, which is largely frequented by Klang Valley visitors, while “Genting Singapore has a different landscape and customer profile” and “cannibalisation from a potential Forest City casino will eventually be digested”.
Given the ongoing expansion to RWS, the research house expects that it will remain more attractive to international and premium visitors compared with a Johor-based rival.
Businesses in Johor will nonetheless hope to see an increase in the number of customers wielding the much stronger Singapore dollar – now worth over RM3.51 – given that residents of the Republic must pay a levy to enter the two IRs there.
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