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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Japan Considering Legalizing Online Gambling?
Reports that closed-door meetings have been held between politicians and major Internet gambling groups
February 13, 2009 (InfoPowa News) -- With a largely adult population of some 130 million souls, a well-developed Internet infrastructure and relatively high per capita incomes, Japan has been eyed by more than a few online gambling groups as a market with considerable potential, and a report this week on the OG Paper website will therefore have been read with interest.
The unsourced report claims that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan has opened lines of communication with unnamed global gaming companies specifically to discuss the possibilities for online gambling in the region post-2010. Although there is already online gambling activity serving the Asian country, as far as is known there are no Internet gambling venues operating within its borders.
InfoPowa has so far not been able to confirm the OG report from other sources.
OG claims that the Japanese government hopes to generate additional revenues through legitimising online and land casino gambling, and reports that horse racing and lottery activities are legal in Japan but do not provide significant revenues. Presenting a tempting -- if currently depressed -- example for Japanese politicians is the initial success of the Singapore and Macau land gambling markets.
Achieving the government's objective will not be simple; it is anticipated that there will be determined political and civic opposition to the concept of legalized and regulated online gambling in Japan, and the government has apparently already assured interested parties that an online gambling industry within Japan's borders will include a strict regulatory regime.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Asian Gaming
Japan
February 13, 2009 (InfoPowa News) -- With a largely adult population of some 130 million souls, a well-developed Internet infrastructure and relatively high per capita incomes, Japan has been eyed by more than a few online gambling groups as a market with considerable potential, and a report this week on the OG Paper website will therefore have been read with interest.
The unsourced report claims that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan has opened lines of communication with unnamed global gaming companies specifically to discuss the possibilities for online gambling in the region post-2010. Although there is already online gambling activity serving the Asian country, as far as is known there are no Internet gambling venues operating within its borders.
InfoPowa has so far not been able to confirm the OG report from other sources.
OG claims that the Japanese government hopes to generate additional revenues through legitimising online and land casino gambling, and reports that horse racing and lottery activities are legal in Japan but do not provide significant revenues. Presenting a tempting -- if currently depressed -- example for Japanese politicians is the initial success of the Singapore and Macau land gambling markets.
Achieving the government's objective will not be simple; it is anticipated that there will be determined political and civic opposition to the concept of legalized and regulated online gambling in Japan, and the government has apparently already assured interested parties that an online gambling industry within Japan's borders will include a strict regulatory regime.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Asian Gaming
Japan
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Japanese plunge hits Australian commodities - The Sydney Morning Herald - 9th October 2008
Commodities and casinos go for broke.
The 9 per cent-plus plunge in the Japanese stockmarket triggered sharp falls in commodity stocks late yesterday, including Macarthur Coal, down by 15 per cent, and retail-cum-industrial conglomerate Wesfarmers, down 7 per cent.
Fears that our biggest coal customer could be facing a dramatic economic slowdown have given credence to warnings that coal prices are set to slide.
A UBS analyst, Lindy Newton, said yesterday she was cutting Wesfarmers earnings in 2009-10 by 7 per cent on the expectation that coking coal prices would fall by 17 per cent to $US250 ($369) a tonne next year and $US230 a tonne the following year. If things get tight, Wesfarmers argues, it can still sell off its coal business or announce a dividend reinvestment plan if it needs to raise cash in a hurry.
Fortunately the company has enough cash flow to comfortably service the massive $10 billion debt it took on to buy the Coles Group in November last year, but as coal prices fall it doesn't leave much free cash flow to spend on refurbishing stores.
Taking a gamble
The poker-machine maker Aristocrat was also hit hard as Japan is a big market and it was counting on customers stocking up. Its shares closed 5 per cent lower at $6.02.
Elsewhere in the gambling universe, James Packer's Crown is not only losing market share in Macau but has problems with its US expansion. It may have hired 1100 staff at its $US250 million Eastside Cannery outside Las Vegas, but job cuts and injured construction workers are plaguing its other investments in the US.
Crown bought stakes in Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos last year just as the industry went into meltdown.
Amid a slump in Las Vegas casinos, Harrah's yesterday confirmed it would follow Station Casinos, which slashed staff numbers at its 17 casinos early last month, and cut jobs at its Caesar's Palace and other venues.
The looming job cuts at Harrah's come after Las Vegas lost about 600 casino jobs in August, even as Crown hired for Eastside Cannery.
Las Vegas's unemployment rate hit 7 per cent in August and is a whisker away from its July 1993 record high.
In August Crown was forced to write down $258 million in the value of these two investments along with its $US250 million investment in Fontainebleau Resorts, which is building a $US2.8 billion casino in Vegas.
Bill Lerner, a US gaming analyst for Deutsche Bank, said some Las Vegas casinos had been roping off gaming tables for extended hours, cutting restaurant hours and even closing hotel rooms.
He also cut his price targets for US poker-machine makers this week, saying gamblers would be spending less due to the financial crisis, rising food and fuel costs, and falling housing prices.
On Tuesday trading in the US, Las Vegas Sands fell 14 per cent, Wynn fell 11 per cent and MGM Mirage slumped 8 per cent. Crown closed down 1.5 per cent at $7.05.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
The 9 per cent-plus plunge in the Japanese stockmarket triggered sharp falls in commodity stocks late yesterday, including Macarthur Coal, down by 15 per cent, and retail-cum-industrial conglomerate Wesfarmers, down 7 per cent.
Fears that our biggest coal customer could be facing a dramatic economic slowdown have given credence to warnings that coal prices are set to slide.
A UBS analyst, Lindy Newton, said yesterday she was cutting Wesfarmers earnings in 2009-10 by 7 per cent on the expectation that coking coal prices would fall by 17 per cent to $US250 ($369) a tonne next year and $US230 a tonne the following year. If things get tight, Wesfarmers argues, it can still sell off its coal business or announce a dividend reinvestment plan if it needs to raise cash in a hurry.
Fortunately the company has enough cash flow to comfortably service the massive $10 billion debt it took on to buy the Coles Group in November last year, but as coal prices fall it doesn't leave much free cash flow to spend on refurbishing stores.
Taking a gamble
The poker-machine maker Aristocrat was also hit hard as Japan is a big market and it was counting on customers stocking up. Its shares closed 5 per cent lower at $6.02.
Elsewhere in the gambling universe, James Packer's Crown is not only losing market share in Macau but has problems with its US expansion. It may have hired 1100 staff at its $US250 million Eastside Cannery outside Las Vegas, but job cuts and injured construction workers are plaguing its other investments in the US.
Crown bought stakes in Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos last year just as the industry went into meltdown.
Amid a slump in Las Vegas casinos, Harrah's yesterday confirmed it would follow Station Casinos, which slashed staff numbers at its 17 casinos early last month, and cut jobs at its Caesar's Palace and other venues.
The looming job cuts at Harrah's come after Las Vegas lost about 600 casino jobs in August, even as Crown hired for Eastside Cannery.
Las Vegas's unemployment rate hit 7 per cent in August and is a whisker away from its July 1993 record high.
In August Crown was forced to write down $258 million in the value of these two investments along with its $US250 million investment in Fontainebleau Resorts, which is building a $US2.8 billion casino in Vegas.
Bill Lerner, a US gaming analyst for Deutsche Bank, said some Las Vegas casinos had been roping off gaming tables for extended hours, cutting restaurant hours and even closing hotel rooms.
He also cut his price targets for US poker-machine makers this week, saying gamblers would be spending less due to the financial crisis, rising food and fuel costs, and falling housing prices.
On Tuesday trading in the US, Las Vegas Sands fell 14 per cent, Wynn fell 11 per cent and MGM Mirage slumped 8 per cent. Crown closed down 1.5 per cent at $7.05.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
Friday, October 03, 2008
Asashoryu goes to court to deny bout-fixing - The Sydney Morning Herald - 3rd October 2008
Sumo's top wrestler Asashoryu made an unprecedented court appearance to deny a magazine allegations that he fixed bouts, one of a string of scandals hanging over the ancient sport.
It marked the first-ever testimony in court by a yokozuna, a grand champion at the top of the sumo echelon who is expected to be a taciturn role model.
Asashoryu, a Mongolian, has long had a testy relationship with the Japanese media and athletic establishment, who consider him too brash.
The Shukan Gendai, a weekly magazine that features sensational scoops, reported in January last year that Asashoryu had paid opponents about Y800,000 ($10,000) per fight to allow him to win.
"These are complete lies," Asashoryu said. "Each match is real."
"I am very sad and disgusted," a visibly agitated Asashoryu said as he glared at the journalist who wrote the article, according to a correspondent for the TBS network who was inside the courtroom.
Asashoryu, the fifth highest ranking wrestler in modern sumo history, is joined by 31 other wrestlers and the Japan Sumo Association in seeking a reported Y660 million ($8.12 million) yen from leading publisher Kodansha Ltd., which prints the magazine.
Hundreds of people waited from the early morning for the chance to get one of the 62 seats for the hearing at the Tokyo District Court.
The magazine's case was supported in court by Itai, a former sumo wrestler who caused a sensation in 2000 when he alleged widespread bout-fixing during his 1978-1991 career.
Itai, who has said he wants to root out corruption to save the sport, told the court today that up to 80 per cent of bouts were fixed.
"When I was around, a yokozuna and a (second-ranked) ozeki would buy a win for about 700,000 to 800,000 yen from other wrestlers," Itai told the courtroom, according to Jiji Press.
Sumo has been rocked by scandals in recent years including the death of a young trainee who was beaten by his master and the expulsion of three Russian wrestlers for smoking marijuana.
Soslan Gagloev, one of the expelled Russians, caused a stir on Monday by saying he would also testify on behalf of the magazine and "tell all" about bout-fixing, drug use and other "evil things" in sumo.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
It marked the first-ever testimony in court by a yokozuna, a grand champion at the top of the sumo echelon who is expected to be a taciturn role model.
Asashoryu, a Mongolian, has long had a testy relationship with the Japanese media and athletic establishment, who consider him too brash.
The Shukan Gendai, a weekly magazine that features sensational scoops, reported in January last year that Asashoryu had paid opponents about Y800,000 ($10,000) per fight to allow him to win.
"These are complete lies," Asashoryu said. "Each match is real."
"I am very sad and disgusted," a visibly agitated Asashoryu said as he glared at the journalist who wrote the article, according to a correspondent for the TBS network who was inside the courtroom.
Asashoryu, the fifth highest ranking wrestler in modern sumo history, is joined by 31 other wrestlers and the Japan Sumo Association in seeking a reported Y660 million ($8.12 million) yen from leading publisher Kodansha Ltd., which prints the magazine.
Hundreds of people waited from the early morning for the chance to get one of the 62 seats for the hearing at the Tokyo District Court.
The magazine's case was supported in court by Itai, a former sumo wrestler who caused a sensation in 2000 when he alleged widespread bout-fixing during his 1978-1991 career.
Itai, who has said he wants to root out corruption to save the sport, told the court today that up to 80 per cent of bouts were fixed.
"When I was around, a yokozuna and a (second-ranked) ozeki would buy a win for about 700,000 to 800,000 yen from other wrestlers," Itai told the courtroom, according to Jiji Press.
Sumo has been rocked by scandals in recent years including the death of a young trainee who was beaten by his master and the expulsion of three Russian wrestlers for smoking marijuana.
Soslan Gagloev, one of the expelled Russians, caused a stir on Monday by saying he would also testify on behalf of the magazine and "tell all" about bout-fixing, drug use and other "evil things" in sumo.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Asian destinations keen on becoming gambling giants, By Yusof Sulaiman - eTurbo News - 7th March 2008
With the announcement by Samak Sundaravej, incoming Thai prime minister who is planning to legalize gambling and build five casinos for domestic and foreign holidaymakers in the country's tourist belts of Phuket, Pattaya, Khon Kaen, Hat Yai and Chiang Mai, the Far East has now entrenched itself as the world's biggest legal gambling destination for tourists.
"Thais who want to gamble, can gamble," said Samak. "The police can do other jobs instead of cracking down on illegal gambling dens."
Despite gambling being illegal in Thailand, it has not stopped Thais from flocking to neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar where casinos have mushroomed along the border with Thailand.
Samak may also be facing up to the reality that it is far better for the country to gain from legalized gambling than to let it sip into the pockets of its police officers who are known to follow a ritual of rounding up an illegal casino following a complaint.
In an editorial, the Bangkok Post said it is an open secret that a number of police officers are close to illegal casino operators, who are "ready to help" if police stations need cash to carry out their day-to-day operations.
Insisting that casinos are not bad for Thailand, Samak said other Far East countries from Malaysia to Singapore have them. "It will bring tourist dollars into the country."
From the largest casino in Macau, the most popular destination for casinos and legalized gambling with a total of 39 legal casino establishments to poor Nepal, there are now a total of 12 countries in Asia which has legalized gambling. "Casinos in Asia are visited by tourists across the world," said worldcasinodirectory, which tracks the world's gambling industry.
It is a fact that a sizable number of tourists from neighboring Southeast Asian countries to Malaysia head straightaway to Muslim Malaysia's only legalized casino in Genting Highlands on their arrival at KLIA, which provides a direct transport service to the country's only casino.
In an interview with USA TODAY, David Green from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said, "Gambling is going legit in Asia, and the trend goes beyond Macau, which has overtaken Las Vegas as the world's gaming market."
Singapore has passed legislation allowing Singaporean to gamble on slot machines and blackjack after paying an "entrance fee" in its soon to be completed Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World casinos at Sentosa.
"The Chinese have gambling genes in their blood," said Harry Tan, assistant professor of tourism at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explaining the Chinese love for gambling in Hong Kong and Macau. "They are enthusiastic gamblers."
With the opening of three casinos last year, South Korea now has total of 17 casinos, one of the largest number of casinos in Asia. The country plans to expand its gaming industry by competing with Macao. "If 11 foreigners visit a casino, they will spend the equivalent of one exported car," said a South Korean newspaper in its editorial.
Globalysis, a US-based technology firm that works with casinos, said South Korea's Jeju island, which has eight casinos, could become Asia's next casino gaming giant.
According to an Asian Development Bank study, the rise of "middle-class" Asians from poverty to affluence will create millions of consumers with cash to spend on entertainment by 2020. "The regulated gaming industry will grow by 14 percent a year from 2005-2010 - the fastest pace in the world," predicted PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Greg Tingle comment
Well, James Packer, PBL boss is going to try his luck in Asia again, this time in the Philippines, after loosing a stack in Macua. Personally, I think he would do better ramping up the online gaming and online casino side of things like I am. Virgin Casino, PKR, 888... there's plenty of healthy competition, but at least Packer Jr won't loose his ass in another casino deal gone wrong. If I can make a buck in the casino business, with support from the likes of Richard Branson's Virgin Games and PKR, god knows Packer and the like can. I think they need to be minimising risks in the current market, which has poker machines valued at $10,00- each stored up like sardines in warehouses. Hard to argue with success isn't it, mind you, Packer used to be Australia's richest man, and he's now down to #3. Media Man Australia has just made the stakes higher in the casino and news media business. Packer, Branson, Trump, Ho, Calvin Ayre, whose next to move.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Asia
Japan
Casino News Media
Casino Travel
Casino News Media
"Thais who want to gamble, can gamble," said Samak. "The police can do other jobs instead of cracking down on illegal gambling dens."
Despite gambling being illegal in Thailand, it has not stopped Thais from flocking to neighboring Cambodia and Myanmar where casinos have mushroomed along the border with Thailand.
Samak may also be facing up to the reality that it is far better for the country to gain from legalized gambling than to let it sip into the pockets of its police officers who are known to follow a ritual of rounding up an illegal casino following a complaint.
In an editorial, the Bangkok Post said it is an open secret that a number of police officers are close to illegal casino operators, who are "ready to help" if police stations need cash to carry out their day-to-day operations.
Insisting that casinos are not bad for Thailand, Samak said other Far East countries from Malaysia to Singapore have them. "It will bring tourist dollars into the country."
From the largest casino in Macau, the most popular destination for casinos and legalized gambling with a total of 39 legal casino establishments to poor Nepal, there are now a total of 12 countries in Asia which has legalized gambling. "Casinos in Asia are visited by tourists across the world," said worldcasinodirectory, which tracks the world's gambling industry.
It is a fact that a sizable number of tourists from neighboring Southeast Asian countries to Malaysia head straightaway to Muslim Malaysia's only legalized casino in Genting Highlands on their arrival at KLIA, which provides a direct transport service to the country's only casino.
In an interview with USA TODAY, David Green from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said, "Gambling is going legit in Asia, and the trend goes beyond Macau, which has overtaken Las Vegas as the world's gaming market."
Singapore has passed legislation allowing Singaporean to gamble on slot machines and blackjack after paying an "entrance fee" in its soon to be completed Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World casinos at Sentosa.
"The Chinese have gambling genes in their blood," said Harry Tan, assistant professor of tourism at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explaining the Chinese love for gambling in Hong Kong and Macau. "They are enthusiastic gamblers."
With the opening of three casinos last year, South Korea now has total of 17 casinos, one of the largest number of casinos in Asia. The country plans to expand its gaming industry by competing with Macao. "If 11 foreigners visit a casino, they will spend the equivalent of one exported car," said a South Korean newspaper in its editorial.
Globalysis, a US-based technology firm that works with casinos, said South Korea's Jeju island, which has eight casinos, could become Asia's next casino gaming giant.
According to an Asian Development Bank study, the rise of "middle-class" Asians from poverty to affluence will create millions of consumers with cash to spend on entertainment by 2020. "The regulated gaming industry will grow by 14 percent a year from 2005-2010 - the fastest pace in the world," predicted PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Greg Tingle comment
Well, James Packer, PBL boss is going to try his luck in Asia again, this time in the Philippines, after loosing a stack in Macua. Personally, I think he would do better ramping up the online gaming and online casino side of things like I am. Virgin Casino, PKR, 888... there's plenty of healthy competition, but at least Packer Jr won't loose his ass in another casino deal gone wrong. If I can make a buck in the casino business, with support from the likes of Richard Branson's Virgin Games and PKR, god knows Packer and the like can. I think they need to be minimising risks in the current market, which has poker machines valued at $10,00- each stored up like sardines in warehouses. Hard to argue with success isn't it, mind you, Packer used to be Australia's richest man, and he's now down to #3. Media Man Australia has just made the stakes higher in the casino and news media business. Packer, Branson, Trump, Ho, Calvin Ayre, whose next to move.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Asia
Japan
Casino News Media
Casino Travel
Casino News Media
The Secret Life of Agents - Inside Asian Gaming - 12th August 2008
Asia’s system of gambling credit is a real challenge to foreign investors
Many Asians can’t easily move money across borders or even within national boundaries in order to pay for gambling. Over time, they’ve got into the habit of expecting credit and can be quite choosy where they get it, even shopping around for the best deal.
Credit due
“Chinese people think: ‘Why should I give you money in order for you to give me gambling credit?’ They prefer to use the operator’s or agent’s money to gamble, then if they lose, they say ‘I’ll pay you back’, says Hwa-Min Hsu, founder of iFaFa, a Philippines-based and Philippines-licensed provider of services to the online gaming industry.
The agents are the lifeblood of cross-border and domestic gaming in Asia, adds Mr Hsu.
“You have to know the agent system in Asia if you want to provide gaming services here,” says Mr Hsu.
A difficulty is that the operation of agents falls into a legal grey area in many countries. Mr Hsu, an international lawyer and marketing expert, is well practised at negotiating complex and sensitive issues. He was awarded an MBE by the British government for his assistance in furthering diplomatic and commercial links between the UK and Taiwan.
The work of iFaFa includes advising foreign companies on the opportunities and the barriers to foreign investment in online gaming targeted at Chinese players. It also provides agent networks, start-up support for gaming software, hosting and live online studio facilities.
Business model
The agent system is clearly a potential barrier to companies interested in investing in Asian online gaming—especially foreign companies without the cultural knowledge of the system. The provision of credit via agents fundamentally affects the dynamic of the business model for cross-border and online gaming in Asia in general, and China in particular. The liquidity of service providers is absolutely dependent on the efficient running of an informal though nonetheless highly organised system of such agents.
There are a number of reasons for this state of affairs. First, the official banking system is often less developed in provision of personal credit services in Asia than in Europe and North America. Many consumers don’t have credit or debit cards to pay for gaming services electronically either on a cross-border basis or in-country even if they wanted to.
Second, the picture is further confused by layers of protectionist economic policies at national level, often including currency exchange restrictions designed to prevent the country’s wealth being exported abroad in too great a quantity.
Third, and by no means least, gaming may actually be illegal or at best stuck in a grey area in the country concerned (exceptions are state-run lotteries of the sort found in China and Thailand). Another problem is that gambling debts are often not recognised as enforceable contracts in many Asian jurisdictions, making it inevitable that provision and enforcement of credit terms is conducted by these informal routes.
Macau VIPs
None of this deters really dedicated players or their would-be agents. The huge amount of cross-border credit silently and invisibly facilitated for Chinese citizens playing in Macau’s VIP casino gaming rooms bears witness to that.
Bill Weidner, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which is investing around US$12 billion in gaming and leisure real estate in Macau, once described China’s hundreds of millions of dedicated gamblers and consumers as the “mother lode” as far as his company’s future was concerned.
This may well be true, but it’s a mother lode surrounded not just by the infamous Internet filters of the Great Firewall of China, but a whole pile of cultural barriers high enough to make a US Marine assault course look like a Scouts’ day out.
Chief among these is the agent system. On one level it is very simple (a way of facilitating credit) but on other levels it is mind-bogglingly complex. In this respect it’s a wonderful example of the Asian genius for giving respectful face to authority while at the same time almost completely subverting the purpose of an original rule or regulation—all in a way that gives everyone a taste of the action, thus guaranteeing that no one (or hardly anyone) has an interest in rocking the boat.
China central
When talking about the agent system we should really call a spade a spade.
Reference to the ‘agent system in Asia’ is generally a euphemism for ‘the agent system in Greater China’. That area, including Macau and Mainland China, has by far the biggest and most complex system of betting agents anywhere in Asia and almost certainly the world.
“An important issue for foreign investors wishing to get into Asian online gaming is that they need to use the agent system, but that system might not meet the due diligence test set by regulators or investors in their home country,” explains Mr Hsu. “If you ask me ‘Do you have to be Chinese to make the agent system work for you in China?’ my answer would be: ‘If you’re Chinese you understand it culturally and have a better chance of recovering payments’,” he adds.
(Credit: Inside Asian Gaming)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
Asia
China
Macau
Gaming
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Casino Travel
Casino News Media
Many Asians can’t easily move money across borders or even within national boundaries in order to pay for gambling. Over time, they’ve got into the habit of expecting credit and can be quite choosy where they get it, even shopping around for the best deal.
Credit due
“Chinese people think: ‘Why should I give you money in order for you to give me gambling credit?’ They prefer to use the operator’s or agent’s money to gamble, then if they lose, they say ‘I’ll pay you back’, says Hwa-Min Hsu, founder of iFaFa, a Philippines-based and Philippines-licensed provider of services to the online gaming industry.
The agents are the lifeblood of cross-border and domestic gaming in Asia, adds Mr Hsu.
“You have to know the agent system in Asia if you want to provide gaming services here,” says Mr Hsu.
A difficulty is that the operation of agents falls into a legal grey area in many countries. Mr Hsu, an international lawyer and marketing expert, is well practised at negotiating complex and sensitive issues. He was awarded an MBE by the British government for his assistance in furthering diplomatic and commercial links between the UK and Taiwan.
The work of iFaFa includes advising foreign companies on the opportunities and the barriers to foreign investment in online gaming targeted at Chinese players. It also provides agent networks, start-up support for gaming software, hosting and live online studio facilities.
Business model
The agent system is clearly a potential barrier to companies interested in investing in Asian online gaming—especially foreign companies without the cultural knowledge of the system. The provision of credit via agents fundamentally affects the dynamic of the business model for cross-border and online gaming in Asia in general, and China in particular. The liquidity of service providers is absolutely dependent on the efficient running of an informal though nonetheless highly organised system of such agents.
There are a number of reasons for this state of affairs. First, the official banking system is often less developed in provision of personal credit services in Asia than in Europe and North America. Many consumers don’t have credit or debit cards to pay for gaming services electronically either on a cross-border basis or in-country even if they wanted to.
Second, the picture is further confused by layers of protectionist economic policies at national level, often including currency exchange restrictions designed to prevent the country’s wealth being exported abroad in too great a quantity.
Third, and by no means least, gaming may actually be illegal or at best stuck in a grey area in the country concerned (exceptions are state-run lotteries of the sort found in China and Thailand). Another problem is that gambling debts are often not recognised as enforceable contracts in many Asian jurisdictions, making it inevitable that provision and enforcement of credit terms is conducted by these informal routes.
Macau VIPs
None of this deters really dedicated players or their would-be agents. The huge amount of cross-border credit silently and invisibly facilitated for Chinese citizens playing in Macau’s VIP casino gaming rooms bears witness to that.
Bill Weidner, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which is investing around US$12 billion in gaming and leisure real estate in Macau, once described China’s hundreds of millions of dedicated gamblers and consumers as the “mother lode” as far as his company’s future was concerned.
This may well be true, but it’s a mother lode surrounded not just by the infamous Internet filters of the Great Firewall of China, but a whole pile of cultural barriers high enough to make a US Marine assault course look like a Scouts’ day out.
Chief among these is the agent system. On one level it is very simple (a way of facilitating credit) but on other levels it is mind-bogglingly complex. In this respect it’s a wonderful example of the Asian genius for giving respectful face to authority while at the same time almost completely subverting the purpose of an original rule or regulation—all in a way that gives everyone a taste of the action, thus guaranteeing that no one (or hardly anyone) has an interest in rocking the boat.
China central
When talking about the agent system we should really call a spade a spade.
Reference to the ‘agent system in Asia’ is generally a euphemism for ‘the agent system in Greater China’. That area, including Macau and Mainland China, has by far the biggest and most complex system of betting agents anywhere in Asia and almost certainly the world.
“An important issue for foreign investors wishing to get into Asian online gaming is that they need to use the agent system, but that system might not meet the due diligence test set by regulators or investors in their home country,” explains Mr Hsu. “If you ask me ‘Do you have to be Chinese to make the agent system work for you in China?’ my answer would be: ‘If you’re Chinese you understand it culturally and have a better chance of recovering payments’,” he adds.
(Credit: Inside Asian Gaming)
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
Asia
China
Macau
Gaming
Financial News
Casino Travel
Casino News Media
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Jetstar boosts its Japanese flights, by Steve Creedy - The Australian - 26th September 2008
Jetstar hopes an expanded code-share with Japan Airlines and new services to the Gold Coast will help boost traffic from the difficult Japanese market.
The airline currently carries the bulk of Qantas Group traffic between the two countries and will have 19 services weekly by December.
The airline has put a major effort into cultivating Japanese travellers since it began flying into the market with services to Osaka in March last year.
Later, it developed operations to Nagoya, developed a new Sydney-Osaka-Brisbane triangulated daily service and replaced Qantas services from Cairns to western Japan.
Next week, it begins an Osaka-Gold Coast daily two-class A330-200 service with a tag service to Sydney five times a week. Subject to regulatory approval, it will also take over the Cairns-Tokyo route from Qantas in December using A330s and start up a Gold Coast-Tokyo service.
Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the decision to move the Osaka service from Brisbane to the Gold Coast was due to demand.
"We were finding that 75 per cent of Japanese passengers were actually taking land transport from Brisbane and going down to the Gold Coast," Mr Westaway said. "So, in effect, the Gold Coast was actually where they wanted to go -- it was just that we were operating into Brisbane.
"And it was actually adding travel costs. The land transport fares were upwards of $100 for each passenger, so it made a lot of sense for us to work with Queensland Airports for a service to the Gold Coast."
Mr Westaway said airport authorities at the Gold Coast would be building new terminal facilities and 12 of the airline's Japanese flights would go out from the destination by year's end, with the remaining seven leaving from Cairns.
He said this would make Jetstar the biggest Qantas Group operator in the Australia-Japan market.
The new code-share arrangements on Osaka-Gold Coast and Tokyo-Cairns would help open up the Japanese market for Jetstar.
Jetstar had a tour operator's licence in Japan, so it could retail through Jetstar.com. It also retailed through its Qantas code-share arrangements and through JAL. "It's important for us," he said. "It puts a very good platform around us being able to best retail our services into the Japanese market and hopefully top up seat factors."
Mr Westaway said that, despite some schedule changes, Jetstar remained a firm believer in Japan, which was still a top-five in-bound market.
He said the Qantas Group had invested heavily in the market but it needed to make it sustainable. The Jetstar product had been well received, the airline had a better cost base than Qantas and the exchange rate had moved in the carrier's favour. "We're pretty confident about where the market's moving," he said.
"There's no question it's a very difficult, challenging market and it will probably always remain that way.
"There's always competition for the Japanese traveller these days and they've always been relatively time poor. I guess from an Australian perspective we need to ingrain in them that Australia's very accessible. It's pretty easy to get here, and it provides excellent, and new, experiences."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Jetstar
Aviation
Japan
Gold Coast
Travel and Tourism
The airline currently carries the bulk of Qantas Group traffic between the two countries and will have 19 services weekly by December.
The airline has put a major effort into cultivating Japanese travellers since it began flying into the market with services to Osaka in March last year.
Later, it developed operations to Nagoya, developed a new Sydney-Osaka-Brisbane triangulated daily service and replaced Qantas services from Cairns to western Japan.
Next week, it begins an Osaka-Gold Coast daily two-class A330-200 service with a tag service to Sydney five times a week. Subject to regulatory approval, it will also take over the Cairns-Tokyo route from Qantas in December using A330s and start up a Gold Coast-Tokyo service.
Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the decision to move the Osaka service from Brisbane to the Gold Coast was due to demand.
"We were finding that 75 per cent of Japanese passengers were actually taking land transport from Brisbane and going down to the Gold Coast," Mr Westaway said. "So, in effect, the Gold Coast was actually where they wanted to go -- it was just that we were operating into Brisbane.
"And it was actually adding travel costs. The land transport fares were upwards of $100 for each passenger, so it made a lot of sense for us to work with Queensland Airports for a service to the Gold Coast."
Mr Westaway said airport authorities at the Gold Coast would be building new terminal facilities and 12 of the airline's Japanese flights would go out from the destination by year's end, with the remaining seven leaving from Cairns.
He said this would make Jetstar the biggest Qantas Group operator in the Australia-Japan market.
The new code-share arrangements on Osaka-Gold Coast and Tokyo-Cairns would help open up the Japanese market for Jetstar.
Jetstar had a tour operator's licence in Japan, so it could retail through Jetstar.com. It also retailed through its Qantas code-share arrangements and through JAL. "It's important for us," he said. "It puts a very good platform around us being able to best retail our services into the Japanese market and hopefully top up seat factors."
Mr Westaway said that, despite some schedule changes, Jetstar remained a firm believer in Japan, which was still a top-five in-bound market.
He said the Qantas Group had invested heavily in the market but it needed to make it sustainable. The Jetstar product had been well received, the airline had a better cost base than Qantas and the exchange rate had moved in the carrier's favour. "We're pretty confident about where the market's moving," he said.
"There's no question it's a very difficult, challenging market and it will probably always remain that way.
"There's always competition for the Japanese traveller these days and they've always been relatively time poor. I guess from an Australian perspective we need to ingrain in them that Australia's very accessible. It's pretty easy to get here, and it provides excellent, and new, experiences."
Media Man Australia Profiles
Jetstar
Aviation
Japan
Gold Coast
Travel and Tourism
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Japan's economy shrinks 3% - Fairfax - 12th September 2008
Japan's economy shrank an annualised 3.0 per cent in the second quarter of 2008, worse than a contraction of 2.4% previously thought.
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.7 per cent in the three months to June from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said today. The figure was worse than a contraction of 0.6% initially estimated.
It was the first contraction in one year, raising fears that Asia's biggest economy will slip into recession as exports falter and costs rise for raw materials.
Economists generally consider a recession to be two straight quarters of negative growth.
However, the contraction was not as bad as the market expected. Analysts had anticipated a fall of 3.3% on an annual pace.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark index rose more than 1% at the opening bell after the release of the data. Dealers were also upbeat over a rebound on Wall Street, where financial firms have been mired in losses.
Japan's Cabinet Office said that domestic demand was worse in the second quarter than previously expected. It slipped 0.7% from the previous quarter, more severe than the 0.6% earlier estimated.
Private-sector spending on plants and equipment was revised significantly lower to a fall of 0.5% from the previous quarter. Previously, the government estimated it slipped 0.2%.
Exports fell 2.5% in the quarter, worse than the 2.3% that was earlier forecast. However, the Cabinet Office also said imports shed 2.6%, as opposed to the initial figure of 2.8%.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.7 per cent in the three months to June from the previous quarter, the Cabinet Office said today. The figure was worse than a contraction of 0.6% initially estimated.
It was the first contraction in one year, raising fears that Asia's biggest economy will slip into recession as exports falter and costs rise for raw materials.
Economists generally consider a recession to be two straight quarters of negative growth.
However, the contraction was not as bad as the market expected. Analysts had anticipated a fall of 3.3% on an annual pace.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark index rose more than 1% at the opening bell after the release of the data. Dealers were also upbeat over a rebound on Wall Street, where financial firms have been mired in losses.
Japan's Cabinet Office said that domestic demand was worse in the second quarter than previously expected. It slipped 0.7% from the previous quarter, more severe than the 0.6% earlier estimated.
Private-sector spending on plants and equipment was revised significantly lower to a fall of 0.5% from the previous quarter. Previously, the government estimated it slipped 0.2%.
Exports fell 2.5% in the quarter, worse than the 2.3% that was earlier forecast. However, the Cabinet Office also said imports shed 2.6%, as opposed to the initial figure of 2.8%.
Media Man Australia Profiles
Japan
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