Matsu Planning to Develop Casino Business

Taipei, March 21, 2011 (CENS)--In view of the tremendous business potential associated with the imminent opening of Chinese free independent travelers to offshore islands, the Matsu County government has planned to develop the offshore island to a casino resort and has commissioned Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CHIER) to carry out a feasibility study of a plebiscite for the program.

The county government plans to start holding explanation sessions for the plebiscite in June, which is scheduled to take place by November. The passage of the plebiscite is indispensable for municipal governments to develop casino business, according to the law.

Insiders noted that the via the program, county government hopes to stimulate local economic development and solicit more support from the central government for infrastructural projects, such as an international-class airport, thereby making the island a key stopover site for Southeast Asian air routes, such as the function of Macao and Hong Kong,.

CHIER plans to first locate two candidate sites for the construction of large-scale holiday resort villages which will include casinos. It will then also make in-depth study for manpower cultivation and the maintenance of local social order. It may be easier for the passage of the plebiscite for casino in Matsu, since it has only 6,000 residents. A similar plebiscite was turned down in a plebiscite in Penghu County previously.

Despite its rich tourism resources, Matsu's tourism industry has been hampered by bad weather and frequent foggy days, which disrupt air or marine transportation. The government has been hesitant to make major investment to improve the transportation facilities, due to low investment returns for the huge needed capital of NT$3 billion.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of the possible opening of casino business, some companies, such as Taiwan Land Development Corp. and Astro Corp., a casino-machine manufacturer, have acquired plots of land in the offshore island of Kinmen for the construction of a large-scale holiday resorts.