Gambling industry creates job, wealth, says official

The National National
Clemence Kanau

By CLARISSA MOI
THE main aim of the gaming industry is job creation followed by wealth creation, says the chairman of the National Gaming and Control Board (NGCB) Clemence Kanau.
The board last Friday disclosed a plan to create more than 20,000 additional jobs for new initiatives mapped out for the industry.
“They are challenging and money-making initiatives for PNG which we believe will generate a lot of revenue to assist the economy, initiatives that will create a lot of employment,” Kanau said.
“We anticipate to create more than 20,000 additional employment opportunities if all these initiatives go through, and of course in partnership with the newly developed programme – the special economic zone (SEZ).”
The board received approval to partner with the Paga Hill development – declared a special economic zone – to establish a casino to lure tourists in what is called gambling tourism.
“The main and the biggest winning plan for this industry is creation of employment,” he said.
He said since 1979, a massive shift of how the gaming board was structured and what it produced in terms of how it generated money came about in 2013.
“Between 2013 and 2018, the gaming board book value increased from K200 million to K1.3 billion,” he said.
“With these new initiatives that we are planning, my board has supported me in venturing into tourism gambling.
“In tourism gambling, we are looking at establishing casinos.
“We will be providing licences to potential partners with the gaming board.
“The gaming board being the regulator and also provider of opportunities for gaming in this country, we will get into business in the space of opening up the market.”
He said they were working on policies to get online betting running soon.
“The other important activity is totalised automated betting (TAB) system where in every hotel in PNG, you apply for licence and we can install a machine there and you do gambling yourself onsite with the TAB machine present in the hotel or any special economic zone that we partner.”