Landing International Invests $1.5 Billion in Filipino Casino Project

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) has recently confirmed that Hong Kong-based listed casino company Landing International Development Ltd is investing a whopping $1.5 Billion in a casino in the Philippines.

 

Reports say that the plans for the brand new integrated casino project involve the construction of a massive theme park and a casino. The new casino has been allotted ground on the Philippines Las Vegas Strip, which houses four other massive casino properties. A specific area has been earmarked in Entertainment City, the largest gaming and entertainment complex developed by PAGCOR in Metro Manila.

 

As per the contract between PAGCOR and Landing International, the Hong Kong-based company has been granted 9.5 hectares of land for the integrated casino, with the casino itself gaining 610,000 square meters of floor area.

 

The Landing Group’s investment of $1.5 Billion comes as a breath of fresh air and a ray of hope to the Filipino gaming industry, given PAGCOR’s agreement with the existing integrated resorts and casinos to not start construction on any new casinos until early 2022. On January 13^th, 2018, the Philipino Government executed a national 5-year pause on the granting of casino licenses, after the country saw an uptick in the proliferation of casinos that offered sub-par services.

 

This national pause, which is the source of PAGCOR’s agreement with the existing casinos, was lifted on May 1^st, 2018, and Landing International was granted a secured clearance for the integrated casino project in Entertainment city.  As per PAGCOR’s instructions, the company must first finish construction on the theme park and begin operations before it starts work on the casino. The fact that this agreement isn’t a deterrent to the investment made by the company is indicative of the positive future that Landing International foresees for the country.

 

The Philippines is one of the largest consumers of casino and gambling services in South East Asia. Through this investment, the Hong Kong-headquartered Landing International hopes to create a more robust casino industry in the Philippines and attract high net worth spenders from other South East Asian countries, specifically Korea.

 

The new casino – to be named NayonLanding – will benefit not just from investments but from Landing International’s success as a top-class casino services provider. The company’s most successful integrated casino  Jeju Shinhwa World in Jeju, South Korea has one of the highest brand equities in South East Asia. Parties on both sides of the contract hope this brand equity soon rubs off on Philippine’s NayonLanding.