PRESENTING OUR PROJECT PIPELINE

We open this May edition of AGBriefings’ Jurisdiction Updates with a special feature on the rebranding and expansion plans of Melco Resorts & Entertainment. The home-grown Macau operator has been extending its feelers into other markets, such as Cyprus and is keen for a license in Japan.

In an exclusive interview with Asia Gaming Brief, Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho, offers us his perspective on the changes taking place and his views on wider market prospects. Ho shares how the exit from one of gaming’s most successful joint ventures early last year, has placed the operator in a position to reap the full potential of its Asian properties and to chart its own path into new jurisdictions.

While every operator, supplier and service provider in the industry is setting their sights on Japan as the new best thing, we look at another sector of the industry equally as keen to benefit. Gaming consultants are competing to offer gaming-related consultancy services to Japanese local governments as they take their first steps toward becoming hosts of integrated resorts.

With two major events on the doorstep in the sports betting world, we take the chance in the Focus section of this edition of Asia Gaming Briefings to examine some key trends in this growing gaming sphere: Could the U.S. Supreme Court’s sports betting decision affect gambling in Asia and will the red tape around Russia’s World Cup curb operators’ prospects?

The underlying currents of Beijing’s influence are felt across most of the Jurisdiction Updates in these pages.

In Southeast Asia we look at how the Philippines are tipped as being one of the best-placed jurisdictions to take a slice of the high-roller pie, as China’s VIPs are once again driving gross gambling revenue across the region.

In Indochina, Macau’s junket operators are increasingly focused on Cambodia, drawn in by growing business ties with China and its location between countries that don’t allow locals to gamble.

Our Special Supplier Report is dedicated to G2E Asia, arguably the region’s largest gaming and entertainment exhibition. Under a banner of diversification of content the show returns to the bustling city of Macau, on the 15th to 17th May, 2018 expecting to attract more than 15,000 visitors. In these pages we bring you what you can expect to find from some of the 220 exhibitors covering a massive 37,000 square meter exhibition print.

Swing by our booth at stand #457 to meet with the Asia Gaming Brief team and find out more about the projects we have in the pipeline: AGB Nippon, a Japanese language daily editorial service geared toward helping the local Japanese business community navigate the inner workings of the gaming industry and the upcoming conference venture with the Gaming Technology Association to develop Australasia Gaming Exhibition Seminars.

If you’d like to get in touch for a meeting write to us at g2easia@agbrief.com.

Also, as the Asia gaming industry converges into Macau, AGB is debuting arguably its most ambitious project to date: the Asia Gaming Genealogy Tree! After drinks at the Supplier Cocktail Party come and have a laugh along as we take you down gaming’s memory lane!

You’ll be offered a chance to eat, drink and be part of the Asia Gaming Tree 2018 Inaugural Reunion Party - The time and location for a blast: 16th May @St Regis. For details drop us a line at gamingtree@agbrief.com

See you Macau and catch up at the “The Reunion” party on Wednesday evening!

On behalf of Asia Gaming Brief

Rosalind Wade & Luis Pereira

Publishers