Pagcor City

=The Landmark Bill=

In June, PAGCOR experienced its most significant event for 2007 the passage of the Republic Act 9487 otherwise known as the PAGCOR Bill. Signed into law by no less than the President, this important piece of legislation grants the state run gaming firm a 25-Year extension to its franchise, renewable for another 25 years.

This in itsdelf is a breakthrough for the country as it signifies the growing recognition bt the government of the benefits of a legalized gaming industry. With this, PAGCOR can now go full gear with the implementation of its multi-billion dollar tourism development project, the Bagong Nayong Philippino- Manila Bay Integrated City

People have been hearing about the entertainment cityproject invisioned by Genuino as early as 2001. However, its implementation was hampered by pending expiration of the PAGCOR franchise. But thanks to the timely approval of RA 9487, this ambitious dream is now fast becoming a reality.

The Bagong Nayon Pilipino-Manila Bay integrated City will initially cover about 85 hectares of reclaimed land in Bay City area and will be developed in various stages over the next 10 years.

It will be a fully integrated tourism zone featuring a wide array of iternational grade facilities amenities such as posh luxury hotels, convention stores, state of the art theaters, sports stadiums, restaurants, shopping centers, cultural complexes and museums, amusment parks and an Observation Tower that will be among the tallest structures of its kind in the world. Meanwhile, the second and third phases of the project include the development of other tourism hubs in the country such as Clark in Pampanga and Cebu in the Visayas.

PAGCOR City

PAGCOR City is the name of a Las Vegas-like gaming and entertainment complex that PAGCOR is proposes to build on 8 km² of land on the reclamation area of Manila Bay, Philippines. The cost of the project will be $15 billion , which is scaled down from the more recent $20 billion budget announcement that had been previously announced in 2007. All investments will come from private companies$15-B Pagcor casino complex gets off the ground, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4/04/2008] . The project has recently been renamed "Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Manila Bay Tourism City", but is called several different names by the press. Currently, the most common name being referenced is "Manila Bay Tourism City".

Four Integrated Resort projects have been selected by Pagcor to begin construction on phase I of Manila Bay Tourism CityLas Vegas of the Philippines, Hong Kong Star, 4/03/2008] .

Approved Projects

State-owned gaming firm Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. is finalizing the issuance of gaming licenses to two foreign operators that have expressed plans to put up casinos within the 800-hectare Pagcor City in Pasay City.

Pagcor chairman Ephraim Genuino told reporters that the issuance of the licenses would coincide with planned launching of the Pagcor City in the second quarter of the year.

Genuino declined to identify the two foreign companies but said they were among the biggest casino operators in the world.

Genuino earlier said several investors from Japan, United States, South Korea and Europe had expressed strong interest in investing in the entertainment complex.

He earlier identified the Loutraki group, one of the biggest casino operators in Europe, as one of the casino operators interested in setting up operations on the reclaimed Pagcor property in Manila Bay.

Genuino said only 5 percent of the total property would be devoted to casinos. He said a big chunk of the property would be geared for other developments such as themed park, hotels, wellness center, retirement village, residential condominiums, office developments and commercial centers.

Genuino cited that Japanese investors were interested in developing a retirement village within the area to cater to the rapidly expanding retiree market.

The project, which is estimated to cost between $10 billion and $20 billion, will be developed in three phases.

The first phase involves the construction of a hotel casino, a theme park and a casino. Projects under the phase one will be completed over the next two years.

The second phase involves the establishment of residential condominiums, resort and additional hotels and casinos while the third state covers the construction of service hospitals, retirement village and wellness center.

With the completion of Pagcor City, Genuino expects tourist arrival in the country to reach 10 million over five years. Some one million jobs will also be created from the development of the project.

Pagcor City will help the Philippines catch up with Macau, Asia’s casino capital, and Singapore, which recently allowed the two casinos.

Pagcor in 2006 registered an income of P25 billion from casino operations, almost up 10 percent from P23 billion in 2005.

Genting Berhad of Malaysia, through subsidiary Star Cruises, in a joint venture with Alliance Global Group Inc.

SM Investments Corp. in a tie-up with Asia Pacific Gaming Corp. of Australia

Aruze Corp. of Japan
*$2.5 billion casino resort on 40 hectares of land that would include a casino hotel, “Manila Eye” ferris wheel, art museum, aquarium, commercial facilities, etc.
*Expects to get licensed sometime between May and July 2008, with the expectation to commence construction around January 2009 and open its casino around April 2010. ". [cite web|url=http://globalcasinoboom.com/casinos/philippines-wynn-may-manage-aruzes-25-billion-manila-bay-casino/|title=Global Casino Boom] Bloombery Investments of the British Virgin Islands
*Crown Casino's James Packer is main investorMeet the Packers–investor in Pagcor’s ‘Tourism City’, The Manila Times, 7/03/2008]

References

External links

* [http://www.manilabaycasinos.com Pagcor City news]