CGMC renews 16 licenses in early June

Cambodia's General Secretariat of the Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC), part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), renewed 16 licenses in early June 2022, according to a CGMC release. The batch covered 13 casino licenses and three games of chance licenses¹.

The early June renewals were part of a wider second quarter total. The CGMC said it renewed the validity of 70 licenses to casino and game of chance companies nationwide in the second quarter of 2022¹. Within that figure, it renewed casino and games of chance licenses for 47 and seven companies respectively on the Friday of the week before the August 22 report, after an earlier release noted the 16 early June renewals¹.

Mey Vann, a secretary of state at the MEF and a CGMC member, said the licenses went to existing operators rather than new entrants.

The renewal list named casinos across Banteay Meanchey, Svay Rieng, Kampot, Pailin and Preah Sihanouk provinces. Star Vegas is operated by ASX-listed Donaco International Ltd. Sokha Vegas and Thansur Bokor are run by Sokha Hotel Co Ltd. Osmach Resorts in Banteay Meanchey and Koh Kong International in Koh Kong province are operated under LYP Group Co Ltd. Crown Resorts in Banteay Meanchey and Crown Bavet belong to Anco Brothers Co Ltd. Lim Heng Group runs three casinos: Royal Hill Resort and Casino, Srangam Resort and Casino and Sai Taku Resort and Casino¹.

Hak Vy, hotel manager at Titan King Casino Hotel & Resort in Bavet City, said Titan King was in the process of requesting renewal of its casino license from the MEF. He said about 70 percent of casinos on the border with Vietnam had completed renovations after damage from lack of maintenance during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that most visitors entering Bavet for casinos come from China, though numbers remain small because the border checkpoint has not fully opened¹.

Vann said expected commercial gambling visitors would mostly come from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and European countries, while China is yet to fully reopen under its "Zero Covid-19" policy¹. Ros Phearun, secretary general of the CGMC secretariat, said in early May that operators of casinos in border areas including Poipet and Bavet had not applied to renew their licenses and needed to renovate buildings due to lack of maintenance¹.

What it means for players

The renewals confirm that named casinos in Banteay Meanchey, Svay Rieng, Kampot, Pailin and Preah Sihanouk provinces hold valid Cambodian licenses for the period covered. For anyone checking whether a venue is licensed, the CGMC is the body that issues and renews these licenses, and its releases list recipients by operator and province. The CGMC has not reported any new licenses in this batch, only renewals of existing ones, so the list does not indicate new venues opening. Titan King in Bavet was still seeking renewal at the time of the report, and the CGMC said in May that some border casinos had not applied to renew, so license status varies by venue. Visitors from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Europe were identified as the expected main source markets, while Chinese visitor numbers remained limited by border and travel restrictions.

What happens next

No further dated steps were reported. The CGMC did not give a date for its next batch of renewals, and it has not reported whether Titan King's application was granted.