In an assertive declaration on Tuesday, Malaysia’s Premier, Anwar Ibrahim, drastically shut down any conjecture regarding the establishment of a second casino in the country. His comments were televised on Bloomberg TV, where he definitively dismissed the idea of approving another gaming license within the nation.
This followed previous brush-offs regarding a recent article by Bloomberg, which suggested that attempts had been made by Lim Kok Thay of the Genting Group and Berjaya Corp creator, Vincent Tan, to discuss the development of a potential casino in a struggling township known as Forest City. This locality is situated in Johor, proximate Malaysia’s border with Singapore.
During a rigorous line of questioning this week, Anwar responded assertively, claiming that there is no fundamental need for Malaysia to venture into the gaming industry. He expressed the country’s technological focus, emphasizing that the priority stood with energy transition, digital transformation, and Artificial Intelligence. Anwar is highly optimistic about these sectors, stating that these strategies are more than enough to propel Malaysian society into the future.
In addition to these revelations, Anwar has previously condemned such reports as fallacious, and has called for an elucidation from the reporter who wrote the original article. The original text allegedly also stated that an endorsement for a Johor casino could potentially be obtained from King Ibrahim Iskander of Malaysia, due to his personal investment of a 20% stake in the Forest City Project.
During his conversation with Bloomberg TV, Anwar claimed that such reports were an affront against the king, causing him great offence. However, he was quick to emphasize that there had been no arrests made in connection with this and expressed a desire to put the matter to rest.
At present, the nation’s only casino license is held by Genting Malaysia, who operate the longstanding Resorts World Genting in the Genting Highlands, located just outside Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.
