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Singapore Issues Casino License
新加坡首个赌场开张
Singapore's first casino won regulatory approval to open, paving the way for the debut of gambling in the squeaky clean city-state as early as next week's Lunar New Year holiday.
新加坡监管当局批准该国首个赌场开门营业。博彩业最早将于农历新年期间在这个一尘不染的城市国家登台亮相。
The opening of the casino by Malaysian gambling company Genting Singapore PLC---ahead of Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s much-delayed showpiece project in Singapore's downtown---would bring a formal end to the Singapore government's decades-long opposition to gambling.
该赌场由马来西亚博彩上市公司——新加坡绅士经营，拉斯维加斯金沙集团 (Las Vegas Sands Corp.)在新加坡市中心的示范项目严重滞后，未能抢得先机。意味着新加坡政府数十年来反对赌博的政策正式结束。
It also establishes an important new front for the growth of the booming casino industry in Asia, roping in new gamblers even as it seeks to take business away from Macau and smaller gambling operations in Malaysia, Cambodia, the philippines and elsewhere.
新加坡此举为亚洲蓬勃发展的博彩产业建立了重要的新阵地，不但能吸引新的赌客，还力图从澳门以及马来西亚、柬埔寨、菲律宾等其他地方的小赌场吸引生意。
It comes as the city-state seeks to find a competitive edge amid a nascent boom in outbound tourism and business travel from China, India and the rest of the region.
来自中国、印度及该地区其他地方的出境游和商务旅行客流不断壮大，新加坡力求通过此举在该新兴市场中保持竞争优势。
But bringing casinos to Singapore also raises a number of sticky questions for the cautious government, which is barring under-21s from entering a casino, proscribing automatic-teller machines from the casino floor and blacklisting anyone deemed to have gambling problems. Authorities are also trying to dissuade Singaporeans and permanent residents from gambling by forcing them to pay a US$70 entry fee to casinos---a levy from which tourists are exempt.
但允许赌场进入新加坡也给谨慎的新加坡政府带来了一些难题。政府禁止21岁以下人士进入赌场，不允许在赌场内放置自动柜员机，并将据称有赌博问题的人士列入黑名单。当局要求，新加坡公民及永久居民进入赌场时需缴纳每人70美元的入场费，以试图劝阻其远离赌场。外国游客无需缴纳这笔费用。
Singapore's Casino Regulatory Authority posted a notice announcing the approval of the license Saturday. While the approval was expected, its timing was unclear. Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa said in a statement that he was "happy to have received the casino license."
新加坡赌场管制局在网上发布通知，宣布营业执照已于周六获批。尽管外界预计执照将获批准，但时间并不确定。云顶新加坡公司旗下的圣淘沙名胜世界董事长林国泰在声明中说非常高兴获得赌场执照。
While largely a formality, Singapore regulators said they wouldn't grant a gambling license to either of the city's two resort operators until a certain proportion of the broader property is finished. Last month, Genting opened four luxury hotels at its project and has been giving private tours of its casino floor, which has been fitted out in anticipation of the license approval.
尽管主要是形式上的要求，新加坡监管机构称在当地两个休闲场所运营商的相关地产建设进度达到确定比例之前，他们不会为其颁发赌场执照。上个月，云顶公司该项目中的4家豪华酒店开业，赌场也装备齐全，开始允许私人参观。
The company has long hoped to launch its casino operations ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins on Feb. 14 and is a time when many people in the region will be traveling or on holiday. The company has booked Stefanie Sun, the city's best-known homegrown pop singer, for Feb. 16.
该公司一直希望赌场能在中国农历新年假期之前开门营业。中国农历新年假期开始于2月14日，届时该地区将会有许多人出门旅行或度假。该公司已经预订了新加坡最著名的流行歌手孙燕姿于2月16日作为嘉宾到场。
The centerpiece of Resorts World's family-oriented attractions, a large Universal Studios theme park, is also expected to open.
该名胜世界的中心区是一个吸引家庭游玩的大型环球影城主题公园也即将开业。
The timing of gambling's arrival in Singapore could prove to be lucky, both for Singapore and for the global gambling industry. Growth prospects remain uncertain in Las Vegas and across the US, while policy uncertainties continue to hover over Macau, the Chinese enclave that delivered most of the industry's revenue growth since 2002.
对新加坡及全球的博彩业而言，该国开放博彩业的时机极佳：拉斯维加斯及全美的增长前景仍不明朗，政策不确定性问题继续困扰中国澳门。自2002年以来，整个博彩业的收入增长大多来自于澳门。
In this environment, Singapore's casinos could open a big untapped market in Southeast Asia---a fast-growing region of 600 million people---and in doing so help Asia further eclipse the US-based gambling industry.
在此背景下，新加坡的赌场将能够在东南亚这一具有6亿人口且经济快速增长的地区打开一个巨大的未开发市场，这有助于亚洲进一步赶超美国的博彩业。
