Long-awaited Cambodia casino legislation receives royal assent

In Cambodia and legislation has reportedly been enacted to more clearly establish the basic licensing requirements and operating conditions for the nation’s often hodgepodge land-based casino market.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling (LMCG) received royal assent on Saturday some seven weeks after being overwhelmingly approved by the Asian country’s National Assembly. The source detailed that the legislation has instituted a 4% tax rate on VIP gaming revenues as well as an associated 7% mass-market duty while moreover establishing the new Integrated Resort Management and Commercial Gambling Committee regulatory body comprised of eleven government ministers.

Impressive intent:

Ros Phirun, Deputy Director for Cambodia’s Economy and Finance Ministry, reportedly explained that the new legislation has been formulated with the distinct aim of helping his nation to increase tourism so as to create more jobs and foster economic growth. The civil servant purportedly pronounced that the LMCG moreover contains a range of new regulatory controls and licensing requirements for any foreign firms hoping to bring a casino to the country of approximately 15.3 million inhabitants.

Distinct distribution:

His boss, Cambodian Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, reportedly went on to assert that the LMCG will allow the nation to build greater casino capacity incorporating the most up-to-date technology so as to become competitive on a global scale. The minister purportedly stated that the legislation has also divided his country into three distinct regions encompassing the ‘prohibited’ and already casino-friendly ‘permitted’ zones in addition to ‘favored’ regions such as the provinces of Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong where all future such facilities must now be based.

Reportedly read a statement from Pornmoniroth…

“Regulations on the commercial gambling sector are designed to enable the sector to operate under the umbrella of transparent law. Thanks to the government’s efforts and investor trust towards the government, some national and international investors started casinos along the Cambodia-Thailand border in the Poipet area in 1999. It is in the face of this increasing investment that the government has pushed for the management of the gambling sector.”