Gaming industry leaders from two continents gathered in Manila to form an alliance that aims to foster greater cooperation and mutual support among casino operators, owners, and investors, particularly in Asia and Europe.
The Euro-Asian Cooperation on Gaming (ECG), was formed during the Euro-Asian Gaming Summit of Leaders held last February. This event coincided with the staging of the first-ever Asian Gaming and Entertainment Plus Leisure Expo Manila (Asia’s GEM) 2006 at the World Trade Center Manila.
Among those who attended the Summit was Jack Binion, owner of Blizzard Asset Management, which currently has a 120-acre retail project in Las Vegas; Efraim Genuino, Chairman and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation; and Danny Ho representing the Sociedad de Jogos de Macau, a company which holds the majority of casinos in China’s special administrative region.
Also present was Melvin Williamson, who represented Antonis Stergiotis and Yigal Zilka, chairman and major stockholder, respectively, one of the biggest and most profitable casinos in Europe, the Club Hotel Casino Loutraki in Greece.
Completing the group were Park Kung Sam and Yang Jin Seok of Grand Korea; Park Duk Shin of Parthenon, Inc.; Paulo Ho of MSPI; Tony Boyd of the International Casino Services; Upakit Pachariayngkun of Alluse Casino in Myanmar; Norman Ng of JIMEI; Jack Lam of the Philippine Travel and Amusement Ltd.; Chiang Chiu Mo Samuel of Century Legend Holdings; David Orrick of Circa/Unidesa.
PAGCCOR chief Genuino was elected interim chairman while the Summit delegates became its founding members.
“It is our common objective to put the gaming industry in its rightful place along with entertainment and tourism, possessing such acceptability and recognition among the nations of the world,” Genuino said during the Summit.
One of the objectives of the ECG is to emphasize the principles of fair play and corporation among its members and provide leadership on various industry concerns. One of these concerns is the matter of problem customers who continually pose challenges to casinos. By maintaining a network of efficient communication with one another, ECG member casinos can be better informed on the movements and cases surrounding such players so that these problems can be rectified expeditiously.
Another purpose for the group is to advocate social, medical, and ecological causes.
In the aspect of operations, the ECG will professionalize the industry through the development of world-class dealer skills as well as raising competency levels of all frontline staff. Doing so will ensure that member casinos are at par with global standards as well as generate interest in the gaming-related careers.
The ECG is open for membership to casino operators and owners, gaming equipment manufacturers and suppliers, state associations, financial service providers, publications, entertainment, hotel and restaurant companies, and tourism operators based in any part of Europe and the Asia Pacific.
The organization shall have its headquarters in the Philippines. « back |
