CEPD to Report in six Months on whether Taiwan should allow Casinos

Taipei (CNA) – The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) will release a report in six months on whether Taiwan should lift its ban on casinos in a bid to boost local tourism, the deputy head of the nation’s top economic planning agency said Tuesday.

CEPD Vice Chairman Chang Ching-sen told reporters that a debate on the issue has been going on for more than 10 years and that the CEPD will present its report and make related recommendations.

Noting that originally the debate centered around whether casinos should be built on outlying islands such as Penghu, Chang said the CEPD is likely to broaden the scope and consider whether casinos could also be built in economically less-privileged areas on Taiwan proper.

Chang said the CEPD will collect information from different countries and borrow from their experiences.

Citing Singapore as the most recent example, he noted that Singapore lifted a four-decade ban on casinos in 2005 and allowed the construction of two casino resorts in the hope of bringing in more tourists and revenue from overseas. „The final answer to the question of whether Taiwan should allow casinos will depend on public opinion and will hinge on the Legislative Yuan’s decision,“ he said.