The focus of Asian attention may be Macau, but a newly-established organisation is looking to turn the spotlight on the Philippines. One of the founding members, David Orrick, explains the roots of the Euro-Asian Co-operation On Gaming...
As the international gaming industry voraciously searches for new market opportunities it is universally agreed that expansion in South America and Asia will be the biggest challenges over the next few years.
The explosive growth of Asian gaming has been most reflected in the frenetic development of Macau and other countries around the region are seeking to emulate that success story. No less than the Philippines where the emergence of a different form of trade association is spearheading the country’s ambition to be Asia’s ‘next big thing’.
The Euro-Asian Co-operation On Gaming is the brainchild of Efraim C. Genuino, since 2001 the chairman and chief executive of PAGCOR, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. ECG was formed in 2006, during the first running of the Asia’s GEM in Manila, and has as its major objective the establishment and promotion of the Philippines as the leading tourism and gaming destination in Asia. ECG, through its broad based membership of casino operators, manufacturers and suppliers, also expressed a wish for a ‘balance of international interests’ in the development of the Philippine gaming and tourism industry.
PAGCOR’s government issued charter as the state owned gaming entity has recently been renewed for a period of 25 years and its mandate widened to allow to permit joint ventures and external investment. The theme of the recent Asia’s GEM conference and exhibition was Forging Alliances – The Future of Global Gaming and chairman Genuino says that holds the key to his and ECG’s aspirations.
“I believe that it is vital that Asia co-operates closely with Europe in order to achieve a balance of interests in the global gaming economy,” he said. “Gaming and tourism are natural partners and ECG is working to bring the expertise and knowledge that has been developed over many years in Europe to assist the Philippines in what I truly believe will be a period of spectacular growth.”
The key development that it is hoped will set the development of the Philippines rolling is the massive Entertainment City project in Manila. Ground-breaking for phase one of the project is imminent and the Entertainment City will rise on prime reclaimed land between Roxas Boulevard and the panoramic Manila Bay.
It will be divided into specialised areas which will feature five-star theme hotels, amusement parks, educational and cultural complexes, shopping malls, a commercial district, a sports stadium, restaurants, convention halls, state-of-the-art theatres, race tracks, residential villages and a hospital district as well as world class gaming venues.
ECG is set to be at the forefront of promoting this development and others that will follow. The Philippines, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands, is a tourism paradise waiting to be discovered. Add to that a plan to develop a gaming industry with a will to surpass anything yet seen in Asia and it is easy to see why the ECG has a crucial role to play in the coming years.
