Armin Raquel Santos (pictured), president and chief executive of Philippines-listed Belle Corp, says the company has already received a “letter of no objection” regarding its application for a gaming licence in Clark, a two-hour drive from the nation’s capital, Manila.
Belle confirmed in July last year that its unit Premium Leisure Corp and associates had “applied for a gaming licence from government regulators”.
Clark, a former military base on the Philippines’ main island, Luzon, is near Angeles City, and is the home of Clark International Airport. The adjacent Clark Freeport Zone already has a cluster of gaming properties, including Hann Casino Resort.
“We need to get the licence first, hopefully within the year. We already have a letter of no objection,” Mr Raquel Santos told the Philippine Star newspaper.
According to Belle’s management, the company would seek a partner to run the casino and hotel operations at the new Clark project.
Belle, via Premium Leisure, gets a share of gaming revenue from Philippine casino resort City of Dreams Manila, run by a unit of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd. Belle is a co-licensee and owner of the land where the casino scheme is located.
In February, Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, chairman and chief executive of Melco Resorts, said his company was “exploring potential strategic alternatives” regarding its involvement in the operations of the City of Dreams Manila. He said the review was part of a plan to shift to a new “asset-light” model.
On Friday, the Philippine Star also carried remarks from Belle’s chairman, Willy Ocier, who said construction of the complex in Clark would take around two years.
Mr Ocier said the project would be smaller in terms of scale compared to the City of Dreams Manila property.
The chairman reportedly said investment for the planned Clark casino resort would be between US$200 million and US$300 million.
In his comments, Mr Raquel Santos said Belle expects the Clark complex “to be a new source of growth and stability in the years to come”.
The CEO had previously stated that Belle expected to gain business in terms of volume via Clark as tourism grows.
“Clark’s strategic location, with accessibility to major foreign tourist markets such as [mainland] China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, strengthens its appeal as a gaming and tourism hub,” he added in his latest comments.
