S. Korea reduces new casino competition to nine sites, invites RFP
South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced its latest strategy Thursday to develop so-called integrated resorts (IRSs), including casinos that are only available to foreigners.
The government has narrowed the number of new sites to consider these locations from 16 to 9, and is currently carrying out the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The RFP phase begins on Thursday and runs through Nov. 27, the ministry said on its website. After the RFP phase ends, "about two" operators will be selected, Business Korea said in an English report published Friday, citing the ministry.
The nine finally selected places are Incheon's six free economic zones close to Korea's major international airports, Ung-dong in Jinhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, redevelopment area in Busan's northern port, and Yeosu Gyeongsangnam-do's Gyeongsangnam-do tourist complex. 슬롯머신
The initial process, conducted from Feb. 27 to June 30, and organized by the ministry, described by investment analysts as a "concept request," attracted 34 stakeholders, South Korean media reported in July.
JP Morgan Securities (Asia-Pacific) said among the 34 parties at the time, Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group and Nagakov, the operator of Naga World Casino Resort in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, expressed interest.
Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd said in a note on Friday that the winning bid project should be completed within four years of the RFP phase, with a minimum government-required investment of 1 trillion won ($850 million) and a minimum foreign investment of 500 million for each project.
RFP Terminology
The agency added that, subject to the terms of the RFP, each project's casino floor should be 5% (or less) of its total floor area. In addition, the venue must provide at least 1,000 five-star hotel rooms, 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet) of retail space, at least 20 billion won worth of conference and convention space, and at least 70 billion won of "Theme Attraction" investment.
In addition, according to Union Gaming, each project must have at least two cultural, recreational, leisure/sports, health/medical, and food and beverage facilities.
Union Gaming analyst Grant Govtsen said. 'The government will begin reviewing the RFP in December and ultimately plans to issue two new IR licenses. We believe these will be the final IR licenses to be awarded in the near future in Korea (excluding Jeju)."
Jeju Island is a vacation spot in the south of our country and the local government has some semi-autonomous power. There are already small casino hotels for foreigners in Jeju. South Korea allows mainland Chinese tourists to have visa-free access to Jeju if they travel in person.
Union Gaming said, 'Considering our view that Incheon is a preferred national IR area, we expect two new IRs to be issued for this area. This will result in a total of four IRs, including two IRs already under construction in Incheon: 1) Paradise [Co Ltd]/ Sega Sammy [Holdings Inc], 2) Caesars [Entertainment Corp]/ Repo [Ltd]."
Mr Govtsen added. "Ultimately, we think the only IR in Korea will be located in Jeju. Among them, Genting Singapore [Plc] is already working on the Resorts World Jeju project. We also expect the Jeju government to issue up to two additional IR licenses for a total of three IRs in Jeju Island.