Casinos in Nepal, including the illustrious Casino Anna,?have opened and nearly immediately been shut down again since they were all declared illegal by the Nepalese Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) on April 19, 2014. A?new law went into effect on July 16, 2013 and virtually none of the country’s casinos came into compliance with deposit and tax requirements. Casino Shangri La at Shangri-La Hotel & Resort had already closed a few months prior to the shut-down due to “labor unrest”. ?Now it looks like “first out” is “first in” under new agreements with the government.
Asian news outlets are reporting that Hong Kong-based Silver Heritage Limited has struck an agreement to run the Millionaire’s Club and Casino at Shangri La (shown in photo here) in a joint venture with a Napalese company. AsiaOne is reporting that the MoCTCA will issue a license within two weeks, and that a preliminary approval has already been granted. The delay in the final license is attributed to the drafting of a comprehensive operations manual for the casino. The General Director of MoCTCA, Tulasi Gautam, is quoted as saying, “As soon as the manual is drafted, Silver Heritage will be issued the final operating authorisation.”
Silver Heritage LTD has several other projects in operation and development including revenue sharing agreements and the provision of over 1,000 slots and electronic gaming machines to players in regulated Southeast Asia markets. Partners in the revenue sharing aspect of their business include NagaWorld Casino(s) in Cambodia, according to our previous research and statements on the Silver Heritage website.
Other operations include the Phoenix international Club, near Hanoi, with live dealer tables. According to ?Silver Heritage this is one of only seven ?casino licenses in Vietnam (as opposed to electronic gaming parlors). The casino is moving to Bac Ninh, and upon build-out will feature 120 rooms and villas along with at least 30 gaming tables and 100 electronic gaming machines.
More ambitious plans seem to include a plan to purchase as many as 30 under-performing casino clubs that are operating in the Philippines today and relaunch them under the “Millionaire’s Club” brand.
According to the Silver Heritage website they have also secured approvals from the Government of India and Central Reserve Bank to open their first of four, Five-Star Tiger Palace resorts in untapped regions of the vast country. At full build-out by 2018 they plan to be operating in excess of 500 table games and 2,000 electronic machines at resorts with full amenities.?True dealer served table games are rare or non-existent outside of floating casinos under current known law in India. We will be looking for details to break this story upon actual regulatory approval and license.
Although the World Casino Directory editors have run across the Silver Heritage LTD name in reviewing casinos in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos as well as elsewhere in Asia, we weren’t able to actually geo-locate their operations remotely as of late in 2014. This may be due more to current world mapping limitations in “under-developed” countries and the lack of detailed transparent information available than anything else. A quick glance at the principals of Silver Heritage LTD, along with the Asian news reports quoting Nepalese government officials, give us good reason to believe that casinos are, indeed, on their way back to Kathmandu.
Editor’s Note: The current profiles?of casinos in Kathmandu are?not up to date on the World Casino Directory. As action occurs on the ground, the Directory?will update the database to close, update, and create new casinos in the public listings.