Though the government has lifted the ban on gambling on Taiwan’s outlying islands, much remains to be done before a casino industry takes off, as the ventures require major infrastructure improvements and may prove unprofitable, analysts and officials said yesterday. The proposal to legalize gambling cleared the legislature on Monday, but restricted casino facilities to outlying islands as part of an attempt to boost tourism.

After months of intense debate in government, the green light is finally given to embark on the development of a casino industry in the islands of Taiwan. The Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) compiled a detailed report pointing to the need for developing a casino industry in Taiwan. Among others, the industry is likely to employ some 5,000 full-time workers plus an additional 15,000 temporary workers.

Kansas City, Kansas (Reuters) – Developers of a USD 705 million hotel, casino and entertainment complex have pulled out of a deal with the state of Kansas, blaming a rocky economy for the need to revise the project. The joint venture of an International Speedway Corp unit and Cordish Co cited „an unprecedented crisis and disruption in the global financial and economic markets“ in pulling out. The group asked the state to refund USD 25 million in fees paid after the developers won the right to develop and operate the state-owned casino…

MGM Mirage announced it is teaming up with an Asian development company to build a „Las Vegas-style“ casino in Vietnam. Asian Coast Development Ltd. will own and finance the MGM Grand Ho Tram. MGM Mirage will give development assistance and operate the resort property when it’s completed. MGM Grand Ho Tram will anchor a USD 4.2 billion resort complex being built along the South China Sea beaches about 128 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Philadelphia (AP) — Empire Resorts Inc. said Tuesday that a joint-venture partner in an upstate New York hotel and casino project has received USD 250 million in financing from an insurer with close ties to labor unions. The casino developer said Concord Associates LP has received financing from Union Labor Life Insurance Co. to build the USD 1 billion Concord-Empire Resorts Hotel and Casino in the Catskills. The project is expected to generate union construction and local jobs.

Despite the slowing economy, which prompted several gaming companies to put the brakes on expansion in Atlantic City, a city councilman there says development of the city’s most coveted tract of land is “way behind schedule.” Councilman Dennis Mason and other city officials have laid out a timetable for the development of Bader Field, the 140-acre former airport valued at approximately USD 1 billion.

With casino development one of the biggest topics throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the government and the people of Taiwan continue to blow hot and cold on the subject. It is not a new situation. The Penghu County of Taiwan, composed of a number of islands between the main island and the Chinese mainland, has been one of the primary locales touted as being ripe for casino development.

In December 2007 Italy notified Brussels with the proposed new licensing requirements which are set to prove more EU-friendly than those currently in place (gaming servers may be located abroad provided within the EU territory, no need for the licensee company to be incorporated under Italian law, lower licence fees, etc). The so-called “standstill period” (during which the proposed rules cannot be implemented by the Italian authorities pending possible remarks and requests for clarification and/or amendments from the EC authorities) will officially lapse at the end of March yet it is still unknown at this time whether it will be possibly extended by one extra month.

Saipan, CNMI, Marianas Variety – The Tinian legislative delegation is still „clueless“ about the plan of Bridge Investment Group LLC, which earlier announced its intention to open a new casino on the island. Covenant Sen. Henry H. San Nicolas, the delegation chairman, said officials and representatives of the company have yet to communicate with lawmakers.

Maui General Store announced that it will be working with the Hoi An Project to assist in financing and help with human resources for the new Hotel Casino Resort and Master Plan Community. The Hoi An Project has 3,237 hectares near the beautiful China Beach area with 12 miles of beachfront to develop. Maui will assist in bringing the right management teams together to build the Hotels / Casinos to create an infrastructure from the ground up.

The Region has been given the clearest signal yet that a casino development is still on the cards. According to MP Russell Brown it came from the prime minister. The Dumfries and Galloway MP met Gordon Brown to discuss the implications of last week’s announcement that the award of a super casino licence to Manchester was to be reviewed.