‘Affirmative no’: Malaysia has no need for another casino, says Anwar

DOHA – Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his government would not consider approving another casino in Malaysia.

“Affirmative no,” Datuk Seri Anwar told Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin at the Qatar Economic Forum on May 14, when asked if his administration would allow a second casino in Malaysia.

“There’s no necessity for Malaysia to venture into the casino business,” Mr Anwar said. “We are focusing on digital transformation, energy transition, AI, and we believe that this is adequate to push the country forward.”

Bloomberg News reported in April that Malaysia was in early discussions with tycoons on

opening a casino in Forest City

, a property development in Johor state near Singapore.

The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said Mr Anwar discussed the idea with Berjaya founder Vincent Tan and Genting Group’s Lim Kok Thay.

King Ibrahim Iskandar was also represented, the people told Bloomberg.

Mr Anwar said afterwards there were no plans to issue a casino licence in Forest City, and denounced the report as a “lie”.

Mr Tan and Mr Lim denied participating in such a meeting.

Mr Anwar said on May 14 that he responded strongly to the report because it was disrespectful to the King, but added that “nobody was arrested” and it’s time to “move on”.

The Malaysian authorities

have charged several people

for making seditious remarks on social media and a private WhatsApp group in relation to the casino report.

Malaysia has granted only one casino licence, which was given to Genting in 1969. It contributed as much as RM5 billion (S$1.4 billion) annually to the government’s revenue before the pandemic, according to a report by UOB-Kay Hian Holdings, a Singapore-based brokerage.

Casinos are controversial in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

After Bloomberg’s report was published, Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said no casinos would be opened or allowed to operate in the state. BLOOMBERG