![[PR] PR_Ascott and Vimut Hospital_2024](https://www.traveldailynews.asia/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PR-PR_Ascott-and-Vimut-Hospital_2024-400x265.jpg)
Extracts from the speech delivered by Mr S Iswaran, minister, Prime Minister's office & Second Minister for home affairs & Second Minister for trade & industry during the International Association of Gaming Regulators 2012 Conference in Singapore on October 22, 2012.
SINGAPORE- “Good morning to all of you and let me welcome to the 2012 International Association of Gaming Regulators Conference. It is my pleasure to address you at this platform, which brings together gaming regulators from around the world in a spirit of cooperation and exchange.
According to the 2011 Global Gaming Outlook report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing region for casino gaming from 2011 to 2015. With a projected five-year compounded annual growth rate of 18% for the period, the Asia-Pacific region will dominate the international gaming marketplace, with its share of the global market increasing from 29% in 2010 to 43% in 2015. It is timely that this year’s IAGR conference is being held here in Asia for the first time and I hope that this conference will offer all participants an opportunity to better understand the regulation of the gaming industry from an Asian perspective.
In Singapore, we have a nascent casino sector. The journey started in 2005 when the Government decided to allow casinos to operate in Singapore as a small part of a larger leisure tourist destination called an Integrated Resort (IR). This term, Integrated Resort, was coined as a clear statement of our intent and expectations. We envisaged that the Integrated Resort would offer a wide range of amenities, including hotels, restaurants, MICE facilities, theme parks and museums, with the casino as a small but catalytic part of the Integrated Resort. They were expected to yield economic and tourism benefits, give a boost to local employment, and make Singapore a more compelling tourist destination.
Our decision to allow casinos to operate was made after careful and deliberate study, and extensive public consultation and public debate. Once the decision was taken, we had to put in place a rigorous and comprehensive regulatory framework, with attendant social safeguards, to protect the interest of Singaporeans. We consulted closely with gaming regulators from other jurisdictions, many of whom are here today […] The Casino Control Act was passed in 2006 to provide the main legislative framework for the regulation of casinos in Singapore – covering areas such as the integrity of gaming, law and order, and social safeguard provisions.
[…]The Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA), under the charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs, takes the lead in regulating the casino industry. In doing so, it works closely with other agencies within the Government. CRA partners the Police in protecting our casinos against the threat of criminal infiltration. Protecting vulnerable groups and the society at large from the harm of casino gambling is another priority. In this regard, CRA works closely with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and the National Council on Problem Gambling. CRA also works closely with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and Singapore Tourism Board who oversee the development of the IRs as top-notch destinations that will continue to add vibrancy to our tourism landscape.
Let me just give you a sense of what has happened to the tourism scene in Singapore since the advent of the Integrated Resorts. Singapore welcomed a record 13.2 million international visitors in 2011, up by 13% from the year before. Tourism receipts totaled $22.3 billion in 2011, an increase of 18% from 2010. In tandem with the rise of the middle class and growth in tourism in Asia, the two IRs have helped to boost our visitor arrivals and tourism revenue. They have also created jobs for locals and created more business for supporting industries. Some 22,000 direct jobs have been created by the IRs and investments from the IRs have exceeded $13 billion. Casino-related crime remains under control, and we continue to keep a close watch on the social impact.
But beyond this initial phase, the challenge is in sustaining regulatory effectiveness so that the IRs continue to contribute to Singapore’s economy while the associated risks and downsides are minimised and mitigated. The risks associated with gaming are common to all jurisdictions, including money-laundering, organised crime, loan-sharking, fraud, cheating and problem gaming.
[…]It is important that jurisdictions review and update their regulatory and legislative regimes from time to time to ensure relevance and effectiveness, while staying abreast, if not ahead, of trends in the industry.
In Singapore, the IRs have been in operation for slightly over two years now. With the experience gained in regulating the casinos over this period, we embarked on a comprehensive review to ensure that our casino regulatory framework continues to be effective going forward.
We recently completed the review and the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill is currently before Parliament. The Bill covers a wide range of amendments, aiming to strike a balance between the need for an effective regulatory regime with genuine business considerations, while protecting the financially vulnerable, in particular, protecting them from the harms of problem gambling. Our regulatory requirements and operational processes will be refined to keep pace with international best practices and industry developments. At the same time, we will strengthen our law enforcement and casino regulatory levers, and enhance our social safeguards regime.
Let me briefly highlight three key amendments to the Act that we have proposed. The first is to ensure that the IRs continue to develop, maintain and promote their facilities as world-class tourist destinations. This is consistent with our objectives when we embarked on this venture. The Amendment Bill proposes the establishment of an independent Evaluation Panel to assess the non-gaming aspects of the IRs. This evaluation will inform CRA’s deliberations when it processes the grant or renewal of casino licences. Secondly, to strengthen our social safeguard measures, we will introduce casino visit limit arrangements which may be imposed on local, financially vulnerable casino patrons who visit the casinos frequently. Our National Council on Problem Gambling will be empowered to issue visit limits. Individuals and their families can also apply for a visit limit. This visit limits regime is intended to complement the current casino exclusion regime that we already have in place. There is a role for individuals, families and third parties to play and this is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that our social safeguards regime continues to remain robust and effective. Thirdly, to provide for greater calibration in regulatory responses to breaches by casino operators, we will raise the maximum financial penalty which may be imposed in the event of serious breaches from the current cap of $1 million, to 10% of the casino’s annual gross gaming revenue. This is a signal to the seriousness with which we take to breaches which are egregious and are of sufficient gravity to warrant higher penalties.
Let me conclude by highlighting a few points. We operate in a dynamic global economy. The entities we seek to regulate continue to innovate and, in some instances, also test regulatory boundaries. New industry trends are emerging, and the Asia Pacific region is expected to lead the growth of casino-style gaming even as we see innovation in other forms of gambling such as in the areas of technology.
IAGR remains an important platform for regulators to network, build relationships, collaborate and most importantly, share experiences to better meet the challenges of gaming regulation. The task ahead is a big one but one which I think is well within the capability of IAGR and all of its members.”
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
