Race of chips and dice
This week in Asean:
- Malaysia: May industrial production performs below forecast
- Thailand: Extra 122 billion baht budget bill clears first parliamentary vote
- Vietnam: President takes over duties of the ailing Communist Party chief
- Philippines: SM Investments plans casino-resort north of Manila
Dear BT reader,
South-east Asian countries are investing more in their casino businesses.
The Philippines’ most valuable company, SM Investments, is reportedly planning to pump at least US$300 million into an integrated casino and resort north of Manila.
Just two months ago, the country’s local developer and operator, Bloomberry Resorts, opened its new integrated resort in Quezon City, boasting four gaming floors. Additionally, there are up to eight more casino projects in places such as the former US airbase Clark and the tourist hotspot Cebu, on top of the 43 other such facilities it has so far.
The archipelago’s gambling sector, next in size only to Macau and Singapore in Asia, posted a record 285 billion pesos (S$6.6 billion) in gross gaming revenue in 2023 and does not shy away from its intention of overtaking Singapore’s position.
Our journalist Goh Ruoxue did an extensive piece that looked into South-east Asian countries’ race to invest in the casino gaming space and observed that these moves come as the Philippines turns to the sector to win back tourists following the pandemic.
Beyond the Philippines, she also looked at how Thailand could be a strong contender, with the talks of legalising casinos finally taking shape after many years of pause due to Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s effort to jump-start the sluggish economy by boosting tourism.
While Malaysia is not as active in the gaming industry due to the moral and ethical concerns of its Muslim-majority community, the country is poised to shine as South-east Asia’s data centre powerhouse in the booming tech sector.
In particular, Johor, peninsular Malaysia’s southernmost state, has become the region’s fastest-growing data centre market, driven by billions in tech investments and Singapore’s moratorium on new data centres.
The state now boasts over 1.6 gigawatts of total supply, with major contributions from global tech giants like Nvidia, Google and Microsoft. Read our Malaysia correspondent Tan Ai Leng’s piece to understand what this means for the region.
On a separate note, she also interviewed chief executive and managing director Vivek Sood of Axiata Group – Malaysia’s largest telco by revenue.
The group is set to increase its market share in Indonesia to at least 20 per cent through mergers and strategic growth. Despite financial losses in 2023, it remains optimistic about its growth potential in key markets such as Malaysia and Sri Lanka, where it has achieved a considerable market share.
As Sood puts it, “size does matter” in his business.
I have run out of space, but there are more featured stories in the sections below. Hope you enjoy them, and see you next Friday!
Trending
BT has run a series of stories on Singapore’s chip sector – its biggest manufacturing segment. Despite the global AI chip boom, we found that Singapore remains focused on “mature-node chips” used in everyday appliances, limiting its exposure to cutting-edge AI chip production.
How do other Asean countries compete with Singapore in the chip-making industry? Stay tuned as we bring you more insights from the region.
Asean in brief
- Asean bourses to increase region’s attractiveness through sustainability, market connectivity initiatives The chief executive officers of six major stock exchanges across Asean are pushing to make the region more attractive to investors by working on four proofs of concept over the next three years, the bourses said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Jul 16). Read more
- Steady growth for Asean+3 on export growth, tourism recovery and domestic demand: Amro The Asean+3 region – China, Japan, South Korea and the 10 Asean member states – is expected to expand at a steady pace of 4.4 per cent this year, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office said on Tuesday (Jul 16). Read more
- ADB maintains status quo on South-east Asia growth forecasts as domestic, external demand improve The Asian Development Bank held steady its growth projections for South-east Asia in 2024 and 2025 on “solid improvement” in domestic and external demand. Read more
- Vietnam Communist Party boss Trong to focus on medical treatment, president takes over Vietnam’s President To Lam has taken over the duties of Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong as the ailing leader focuses on an unspecified health treatment, the party said on Thursday (Jul 18). Read more
- Malaysia’s industrial production up 2.4% in May, below forecast Malaysia’s industrial production index rose 2.4 per cent in May from the year before, missing economists’ projections due to weaker mining production, a Department of Statistics Malaysia report indicated on Friday (Jul 12). Read more
- Malaysia set to declare Johor’s Forest City a duty-free zone to revitalise struggling project Malaysia approved five bills on Wednesday (Jul 17) to designate 770 acres of the Forest City in Johor as a duty-free zone, as the country aims to revitalise the beleaguered mega development, attract investments and boost economic growth. Read more
- Indonesia’s central bank holds interest rates steady, as expected In a widely anticipated move, Indonesia’s central bank on Wednesday (Jul 17) opted to keep its interest rate at 6.25 per cent to bolster its currency while eyeing the possibility of a rate reduction in the fourth quarter of this year. Read more
- Singapore-Laos clean power deal stuck over transmission: sources The extension of a multilateral deal by Singapore to import hydropower from Laos is stuck due to disagreements over how the energy will be transmitted through Malaysia and Thailand, two regional government sources familiar with the matter said. Read more
- Thailand’s extra 122 billion baht budget for stimulus clears first parliamentary vote The Thai government’s additional 122 billion baht (S$4.6 billion) budget bill for the 2024 fiscal year to finance its signature stimulus programme passed its first parliamentary vote on Wednesday (Jul 17). Read more
