The Macau Metro Monitor, February 13, 2012
SJM TO SUBMIT COTAI PROJECT THIS WEEK Macau Daily Times, Macau News
SJM will submit the master plan for its Cotai resort to the government as early as this week and expects the government to formally approve the land grant 'hopefully in the middle of this year'. “The Cotai plots, we’re still waiting for the Macau Government’s formal approval of the land grant. We hope that this will come very soon... We’re doing it now because without this master plan, it is not possible for the government to calculate the premium to be charged and to start the land grant [process]. We’ll submit it as quickly as possible because we’ve got the parameters of the design now," said Ambrose So, CEO of SJM.
So promised that SJM will set aside more space for non-gaming attractions in its Cotai project, which he said would take about three years to construct. "I think in Cotai it’s a different market, unlike those in the [Macau] peninsula which is gaming-oriented, gaming-centric. Of course we have to put in more non-gaming elements into our complex,”” said So.
So added that joining the ‘Cotai race’ later than everyone else could actually be a good thing for SJM. “This is something we have to think about. Being the latecomer we have the advantage of knowing what can be done and what cannot be done, what is successful and what is not successful." In December 2011, Ambrose So confirmed that the government had agreed to grant a plot in Cotai to SJM but the land premium had not yet been decided.
SJM CEO EXPECTS GAMING REVENUE TO GROW 25% IN 2012 Macau News
SJM's CEO, Ambrose So expects GGR to grow 25% in 2012. So pointed out that although casinos located in the Macau peninsula hold a 60% market share of the city’s total gaming revenue, his company was ready to compete in Cotai where he said the market was gradually picking up.
2 NEW RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA HOTELS TO OPEN ON THURSDAY Strait Times
Two eco-luxurious hotels are set to redefine resort-style vacations in Singapore on Thursday. The Equarius Hotel and Beach Villas, opening at Resorts World Sentosa, will come with 360-degree views that take in the waterfront, the harbourfront skyline and a lush tropical rainforest.