{"id":27425,"date":"2015-02-02T15:35:29","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T23:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=27425"},"modified":"2015-02-02T15:43:04","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T23:43:04","slug":"james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/","title":{"rendered":"James Packer Resorts to Not Building One in Sri Lanka and Is Told: “Don’t Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out!”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"New
The new Sri Lankan administration has been adamantly opposed to the introduction of major casinos in the country. Other than that, they look like party people. (Image: AFP\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

James Packer\u2019s Crown Group decided on Friday that it would no longer be interested in building a resort casino complex in Sri Lanka<\/a>, pulling out of a planned $350 million development.<\/p>\n

To put it lightly, the Sri Lankan government was less than pleased with Packer’s decision, and made it clear that it\u2019s fine if he doesn\u2019t want to come to their nation, because they don\u2019t want him there, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cPacker says he will not come. Who asked you to come?\u201d asked Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a statement. \u201cPlease don\u2019t come\u2026not in this lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fierce comments come on the back of a recent change in government in the country, as President Maithripala Sirisena came into power just this month after a sweeping electoral win.<\/p>\n

Sirisena was backed by a party of Buddhist monks that strongly opposed the introduction of casino gambling in Colombo, the nation’s capital. The previous administration had hoped that casinos and resorts would boost the nation\u2019s tourism industry.<\/p>\n

Government Rescinded Tax Rebate, Won\u2019t Allow Casinos<\/h2>\n

That led to a decision by the new government late last week to eliminate a special five percent tax rate that would have been granted to Packer\u2019s planned resort, along with two other developments that were being built by foreign interests.<\/p>\n

Just as significantly, the government determined that casinos would not be allowed in these resorts. That decision led Packer to back out of his project; another developer said his company would continue with its resort plans without a casino, and the third has yet to decide how it will proceed.<\/p>\n

Crown Resorts responded to the news with disappointment, but the operator says it understands the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrown Resorts respects the decision and on that basis the project would not be going ahead,\u201d a spokesperson for Packer’s casino conglomerate said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Crown project had been approved by the previous government in December 2013, but construction had not yet begun. Had the agreement remained in place, Packer may have saved up to $1 billion in taxes over a 10-year period.<\/p>\n

While gambling is mostly outlawed in Sri Lanka, loopholes in the law exist, and that has allowed small gambling halls to operate in the country for decades. However, the proposed resorts would have included the first major casinos in the nation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Melco Crown Opens City of Dreams Manila<\/h2>\n

The loss of his planned casino in Sri Lanka may have only been a secondary concern for Packer this week, however, as he was in Manila on Monday to talk about the opening of a new Melco Crown Entertainment resort in Manila.<\/p>\n

Known as City of Dreams Manila<\/a>, the glimmering resort is the second resort casino in Entertainment City, which the Philippines hopes will become a gambling hub that can rival Macau and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Packer, seemingly unfazed by the events in Sri Lanka, appeared with fellow billionaire Lawrence Ho to officially open City of Dreams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had high expectations, and the property has exceeded my highest expectations,\u201d Packer said of the brand-new complex. \u201cI\u2019m so proud to be here and I genuinely think that City of Dreams Manila is a world-class property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur vision was always to find [the] greatest locations in Asia for integrated resorts,\u201d Ho added. \u201cWe\u2019ve been very selective. After Macau, Manila is really the first place we decided to go into.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Packer\u2019s Crown Group decided on Friday that it would no longer be interested in building a resort casino complex in Sri Lanka, pulling out of a planned $350 million development. To put it lightly, the Sri Lankan government was less than pleased with Packer’s decision, and made it clear that it\u2019s fine if he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":27435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJames Packer Resorts to Not Building One in Sri Lanka and Is Told: "Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out!"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sending Packer packing: Sri Lankan officials have told James Packer that he\u2019s not welcome in their country after he decided not to build a resort in Colombo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James Packer Resorts to Not Building One in Sri Lanka and Is Told: "Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out!"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sending Packer packing: Sri Lankan officials have told James Packer that he\u2019s not welcome in their country after he decided not to build a resort in Colombo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-02T23:35:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-02T23:43:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/New-government-Sri-Lanka-James-Packer-casino.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"634\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"482\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/\",\"name\":\"James Packer Resorts to Not Building One in Sri Lanka and Is Told: \\\"Don't Let the Door Hit You On the Way Out!\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/New-government-Sri-Lanka-James-Packer-casino.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-02T23:35:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-02T23:43:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Sending Packer packing: Sri Lankan officials have told James Packer that he\u2019s not welcome in their country after he decided not to build a resort in Colombo\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/james-packer-no-sri-lanka-casino-resort\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/New-government-Sri-Lanka-James-Packer-casino.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/New-government-Sri-Lanka-James-Packer-casino.jpg\",\"width\":634,\"height\":482,\"caption\":\"The new Sri Lankan administration has been adamantly opposed to the introduction of major casinos in the country. 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