Top > Business > 2007 > February > 2007-02-16

Las Vegas Sands marks Singapore Project Milestone

Sheldon Adelson`s U.S. gaming giant Las Vegas Sands, which has won the tender to build and operate Singapore`s first casino at a net cost of $3.6 billion, announced Thursday that it commenced construction of the casino, scheduled to open during 2009.

William Weidner, president and chief operating officer of Sands said that the construction, which has been delayed due to rocks embedded in the site, has restarted. "We are still anticipating a 2009 completion, even though we ran into some surprises in the ground," he said. Adelson said that the company was forced to sustain high transport costs for sand used in the construction due to an Indonesian ban on exporting sand to Singapore. "We always include a 5 to 10 percent increase in the budget as contingency for unforeseen events," he said. The casino is to be one of the city-state`s two casinos planned to draw tourists and strengthen the country`s service sector. The other casino will be built by Malaysia`s Genting Bhd, through its affiliates Genting International and cruise operator Star Cruises Ltd on the resort island of Sentosa at a cost of $3.4 billion.

Adelson, who is, according to Forbes magazine, America`s third richest person, said Sands was interested in building casinos in other countries such as Japan, Thailand, India and South Korea, as long as, these countries liberalize their gambling laws. In the past few weeks it has been reported that Sands has expressed interest in a tender recently opened for a large casino in Manchester, England.