Malaysia’s prime minister has reportedly been in talks with two of the country’s gaming entrepreneurs, Lim Kok Thay of global casino group Genting, and Vincent Tan of lottery specialist Berjaya Corp Bhd, about the possibility of putting a casino in a struggling US$100-billion real estate development that has Chinese backing, called Forest City in Johor, close to the border with Singapore.
That is according to a Thursday report by Bloomberg, citing people it did not name, but said were familiar with the matter.
Genting runs what is currently Malaysia’s only casino resort, Resorts World Genting, at Genting Highlands, outside the national capital Kuala Lumpur.
The talks involving Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were said to have taken place last week, at the Forest City site.
Bloomberg said one of Forest City’s backers, Chinese real estate firm Country Garden Holdings Ltd, was in favour of such a move. Country Garden has recently seen its shares suspended on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, due to a delay in its financial reporting.
The current ceremonial monarch of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, who is also sultan of Johor state, is said to hold more than 20 percent of the joint venture vehicle involving Country Garden that is the master developer of Forest City.
The report said the monarch was represented at the talks.
Bloomberg cited a spokesperson for Berjaya as saying it was not aware of any talks between Mr Tan and the Prime Minister regarding Forest City.
The news outlet added that neither Genting, Country Garden, or the monarch’s office, responded to request for comment.
