It seems that every country in the Pacific rim area want a casino. There´s Macau, of course, and the new super casino in Singapore. Then you´ve got Vietnam angling for some development, and Taiwan (on some obscure islands in the Taiwan Straits). And now it seems that Fiji- more famous for its Rugby 7´s triumphs at the Hong Kong Rugby 7´s tournament, wants to get in on the action as well.
Fiji has started to invite tenders for its first casino- the military junta there called for companies to express their interest in developing and operating the Pacific nation’s first casino in a bid to raise tax dollars.
Tourism Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said a casino would help Fiji attract more visitors from China, India and from Europe, and building on the lucrative US market.
Fijis´s economy has struggled since the military coup in 2006 that was led by current Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.
Sayed-Khaiyum said that a casino on the island would create jobs and raise important tax revenue for the government.
Fiji is looking for large international gaming operators to enter the fray.
Laws would be put in place to minimise any negative social problems, based on the models of Malaysia and Singapore.
Tourism is Fiji’s major foreign exchange earner following a decline in ithe sugar industry.
More than half a million international visitors, 65 percent of them from Australia and New Zealand, visited the island nation’s beaches in 2009, and Fiji’s economy was expected to grow less than 1% in 2010, versus a 3% decline in 2009.
Fiji’s public debt is about 67 % of GDP and tax revenues this year are likely miss forecasts.
