Sri Lanka’s new government said that the country does not need investment from Australian billionaire James Packer, after the gaming mogul withdrew plans for a luxury resort development in the capital Colombo.
“Packer says he will not come. Who asked you to come?” Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a statement. “Please don’t come, not in this lifetime.”
“We need only good investors. We don’t want an economy relying on casinos,” Wickremesinghe added.
James Packer’s Crown Resorts abandoned plans for the $350 million resort-casino development on Friday, after the new administration decided to ban approval for casinos and withdrew significant tax concessions granted under the previous regime in efforts to turn Colombo into a regional gaming hub.
Sri Lanka’s new government came to power on January 9 and Sri Lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena had reportedly pledged in his manifesto to cancel the new casino projects.
Two other Sri Lanka casino schemes—the US$300-million Queensbury resort by Sri Lanka’s Vallibel One Plc. and the US$850-million Waterfront Properties development of John Keells Holdings Plc—were similarly affected by the government’s announcement. John Keells Holdings issued a statement saying its project would continue without a casino component while the Vallibel project’s fate is unclear.
Crown‘s proposed development of a resort with a 400-room hotel, shopping, entertainment and convention facilities and a casino received cabinet approval in 2013. But its plans faced strong opposition from Buddhist leaders who were angered by the tax concessions approved for the project and feared that an enlargement of the casino gaming industry would damage community values and culture in the mainly Buddhist nation.
