GGRAsia – NagaCorp sees Cambodia stable amid PM change: McNally

NagaCorp sees Cambodia stable amid PM change: McNally

Jul 27, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck

The non-executive chairman of Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp Ltd, Tim McNally (pictured), has told GGRAsia he is “fully confident” about the “future leadership and political stability” of Cambodia, after news that the nation is to have a new prime minister. NagaCorp has a long-life casino monopoly in the Cambodia capital Phnom Penh, where it runs the NagaWorld gaming and hotel complex.

It was announced on Wednesday that the incumbent prime minister, Hun Sen, would step down next month after 38 years in power. The news came after his Cambodian People’s Party was declared the overwhelming winner of a national election held on Sunday.

Local media have reported that Hun Manet is likely to take over from his father Hun Sen, as prime minister, with the latter’s backing.

“We remain fully confident about the future leadership and political stability within the country,” Mr McNally told GGRAsia. “We wish the current prime minister good health and best wishes in the future.’

The chairman added that as a public company, NagaCorp was “non-political in its business activities within Cambodia”.

He stated: “We will continue to effectively work with the Cambodian government leadership concerning issues that affect our business.”

In addition, the firm would “continue to invest and promote NagaWorld as a tourist destination with the objective of growing” its business and “providing a significant contribution to the country’s overall effort and success to grow and maintain a strong tourism sector,” added the chairman.

Mr McNally said, referring to two currently-running phases of NagaWorld, and another under construction: “As a company we are focused on our current Naga 1 and 2 business operations and look to the future with our Naga 3 construction and planned expansion.”

The company had acknowledged in a June filing that completion of Naga 3 had been pushed back by four years, to 2029. It added in a Hong Kong briefing last week, that the podium portion might be opened before the rest of the site. Naga 3 is to include three hotel brands: a JW Marriott; a Grand Hyatt, and some own-brand accommodation.

Last week NagaCorp reported first-half net profit to June 30 at US$83.0 million, up 57.4 percent from a year ago.