The president of MGM Macau, Grant Bowie, stressed today that the company wants to expand its presence in the territory. To achieve that, the gaming operator is still waiting for a parcel of land in Cotai.
“We have made it clear we want to have an opportunity in Cotai”, Mr Bowie told reporters.
“We have made it clear we want to grow in Macau” and “we are working with the government” in that direction, he said.
Mr Bowie stressed the company is currently “financially safe and secure,” which means ready to invest in Cotai.
Earlier this month, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io announced that three gaming projects in Cotai from three different operators are still waiting for the government’s formal land grant approval. Asked if MGM was one of them, Mr Bowie said he would not mention names, since the government didn’t disclose who were the interested parties either.
However, Mr Bowie confirmed that MGM submitted a proposal to the government requesting a land concession in Cotai back in 2007.
Mr Bowie didn’t elaborate on where exactly is the land in Cotai that MGM is eyeing. But he said the company was not trying to get Macao Studio City’s parcel, which still remains undeveloped and is seen by several analysts has of high value due to its localization near the Lotus bridge, connecting Macau to Mainland China.
“I don’t see Macao Studio City land as an option right now because it is owned by someone else,” Mr Bowie said.
Regarding the company’s project for Cotai, it would be a “high-end integrated resort”. Besides gaming, MGM is looking at a wide range of other possibilities to include in it: conventions, medical tourism, entertainment and retail are some options.
Mr Bowie didn’t comment on MGM’s potential IPO in Hong Kong stock exchange later this year and whether the timing of the operation would be related with a land concession in Cotai.
Also today, MGM Macau announced it is sponsoring a total of four students to undergo the University of Nevada’s (UNVL) Master of Hospitality Administration Executive Programme, which is being offered for the first time in Macau, in a partnership with the Institute for Tourism Studies.
One of the sponsored students is a MGM team member who is now working in the casino marketing division, while the other three are fresh graduates from IFT – meanwhile, they have been hired by MGM.
UNLV’s Master of Hospitality Administration combines distance learning and on-site intensive one-week seminars. The students will visit Las Vegas for a seminar week in December 2010.
Mr Bowie stressed that MGM will continue to invest in employee training in the future. “We will have a return on that investment,” he stressed.