James Packer Plans Exclusive Philippine Casino

The likelihood of the Philippines following Macau as another overnight cash machine has made investors easier to find than the prospect of entering the competitive and cutthroat Vegas scene.

Having recently abandoned a pet project designed for the Las Vegas Strip, James Packer has decided to apply his efforts in a different theater and attempt to acquire the licenses necessary to build a giant casino in the Philippines.

Although several potential developers are reportedly vying with Packer for the rights to the project, the Australian owner of Crown Casinos has the early edge in receiving the country's permission to plan and erect a casino.

Packer, noted as Australia's richest man, gave up last month on plans to construct the tallest tower in Las Vegas as part of a mega-casino and hotel. Credit difficulties forced him to forget the dream of owning a dominating structure amidst Vegas's empires.

However, it seems entering another aspect of the fertile Asian market has made financing easier to find. The likelihood of the Philippines following Macau as another overnight cash machine has made investors easier to find than the prospect of entering the competitive and cutthroat Vegas scene.

Packer's Bloombury Investments was named by the CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, a state organ, as a potential builder of a $1.5 billion casino, to be the center of a $15 billion gambling and entertainment complex on Manila Bay.

The project would contain upscale shops and restaurants, several elite hotels, and an arena venue for sports and entertainment events.

Despite the disappointment of the shutdown of the Vegas project, Packer is determined to keep his empire growing, and expanding on a new Asian front seems highly likely to be most successful.