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Questions No. 864 & No. 872 of
Notice
Papers No.
281 &
No. 284 of 2008
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms
Sylvia Lim,
Non-Constituency Member of
Parliament.
Ms
Eunice Elizabeth Olsen,
Nominated Member of Parliament. |
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Questions |
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[864] To
ask the Minister for Trade and Industry to what extent the financial
turmoil in the United States may delay or undermine the opening of the
two Integrated Resorts and whether the Government is considering
alternatives if the operators are unable to deliver. |
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[872] To
ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) when will the integrated
resorts (IRs) be fully opened since they are reportedly only having a
soft opening; (b) whether there are changes to the terms and conditions
since the contract was awarded; (c) when does the Ministry expect its
initial projection of the IRs' boost to our GDP to be achieved; and (d)
whether the Ministry anticipates the financial crisis to affect the
business of the IRs when they open. |
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Answer |
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Mr Speaker Sir, I will take Ms Sylvia Lim’s
and Ms Eunice Olsen’s questions on the Integrated Resorts (IRs)
together. |
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The Integrated Resorts are commercial
projects which take on the usual business risks and face the vagaries of
the market. Consequently, they are likely to face challenges arising
from the current economic environment and financial market situation. |
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As a result of the recent financial turmoil
in the United States, several US-based companies have been adversely
affected by the credit crunch. This has led to concerns about the
financial health of the US-based Las Vegas Sands Corporation and any
possible impact on its Singapore subsidiary - the Marina Bay Sands
Integrated Resort. |
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To address these concerns, Las Vegas
Sands Corporation has embarked on a capital raising programme.
Members would be aware that Mr Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Las
Vegas Sands Corporation, has publicly affirmed his commitment to the
Marina Bay Sands project. We welcome Mr Adelson’s strong commitment
and look forward to his company doing what is necessary to see
through the completion of the Marina Bay Sands project. |
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The Singapore Tourism Board remains in
dialogue with Marina Bay Sands and continues to work with them to
facilitate the project’s completion. |
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When Las Vegas Sands Corporation won the
bid for the Marina Bay IR, it committed to complete the entire
development by the end of 2009. The project has made good progress
to date, despite the resource constraints arising from a tight
construction sector. |
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The current financial turmoil has
introduced additional challenges for the parent company of Marina
Bay Sands. They have therefore proposed a progressive opening of
their development – a request which is being carefully considered by
Government agencies. |
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Resorts World at Sentosa, which is
developing the IR on Sentosa, has also requested a progressive
opening of their development. Our understanding is that this request
arose from some physical on-site constraints that the company
encountered when constructing the IR. |
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STB and other Government agencies are
considering these requests by Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at
Sentosa with due reference to what they have committed as part of
the Request for Proposal exercise. Even as we do so, our expectation
remains that each development will open as an Integrated Resort, and
not just as a stand-alone casino. If the requests are allowed, they
will also be subject to various terms and conditions. |
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Ms Olsen has also asked when the
projected GDP boost would be achieved and if the IRs’ business will
be affected by the financial turmoil. It would be fair to say that
due to the global financial crisis and the slowdown already evident
in our tourism sector, there may be some impact on the IRs’ business
when they open. It is, however, premature to try to ascertain in
quantitative terms what the exact impact will be, given the volatile
economic conditions. |
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What we do know is that both IRs remain
optimistic that their product offerings will draw visitors from
their target market segments. On the Government’s part, the STB will
continue to work closely with both IRs and monitor the situation. |
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Source:
www.mti.gov.sg News 17 Nov 2008 |
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FrontPage Edition: Tue 18 Nov 2008
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