Reports of a new Cambodian casino joint venture with Malaysian ties are creating more confusion and with each passing day, there are more questions popping up than it can answer. Over the weekend, Malaysian media outlet The Star reported that computer hard drive firm MQ Technology Bhd (MQTech) is venturing into the Cambodia casino market in a joint venture to develop a gaming resort and a theme park in the country. As per the reports shares, it is to be believed that that company is partnering with a local partner’s names Cambodian Resorts and Entertainment Co Ltd (CRE) for the venture. This resort project will be situated in Banteay Chakrey in Prey Veng Province, which is located in the southeast of Cambodia close to the Vietnam border.
A source familiar with the matter said: “The project will see the construction of a resort and entertainment complex comprising of a hotel, casino, and a theme park, among others. “CRE is the owner of the project land and has a sister company which holds a casino license to operate on this land.”
As per The Star’s source CRE owned the land on which the proposed project would be built and CRE also has “a sister company which holds a casino license to operate on this land.” However, the trouble is that the proposed site is around 100 km from Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and is home to NagaCorp’s flagship property NagaWorld. As per the government contract of NagaCorp’s which ensures it exclusivity on casino operations within 200 km of Phnom Penh until the year 2035.
As per this joining venture between MQ Technology and CRE than CRE would seek a local casino operator to manage the new property’s gaming operations. As per the source, there is no information yet whether NagaCrop had been asked to participate in the joint venture. In a recent move on Monday, Phnom Penh Post linked CRE with Cambodian gaming firm VW Win Holdings which is a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Century Dynasty that operates the local CamLoto lottery business. VW Win COO Michael Ho is listed as a contact as per CRE’s commercial registry documents.
However Century Dynasty chairman Gooh Teik Keng shared with the Cambodian media outlet that neither VW Win, CamLoto nor Century Dynasty “have any involvement with MQ Technology to build a casino that I am aware of.”
