The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) yesterday said it will build a $20 billion gaming and entertainment complex in the 800-hectare land by the Manila Bay.

The complex to be called "Pagcor City", will signify the government gaming firm’s shift to entertainment, copying the Las Vegas template.

"With the proposed Pagcor City, we can catch up with Macau and Singapore," Pagcor chairman and CEO Efraim Genuino said.

The project site is the PEA-Amari reclamation site.

He said a group of Japanese businessmen planned to invest for Japanese retirees. Other partners in the project are from Europe, the United States and South Korea.

Paul Michael Boettcher, chairman and CEO of Storm International of Russia said they are interested in investing in the country.

"We’re here to expand our business in Asia, we’re interested in setting up business in the Philippines." Boettcher said

Genuino said the construction will be at no cost for the government, as foreign investors will finance the project. Pagcor will look for a master planner for the said project.

The Pagcor chief named the Loutrake group, as one of the locators in the Pagcor City. He claimed there will be multiple partners for this project.

To date, Pagcor is securing the technical requirements needed for the venture.

The phase 1 of the project will include a resort, hotels, and a theme park, which is expected to start construction this year and is expected to finish in 2 to 4 years. The first phase has an estimated 10,000 tables and 3,000 additional machines. They hope to start operating in three years. The project has three phases.

Genuino said the project will encourage more tourists coming in the country, as he expects that 80 to 90 percent of the revenues that will be derived when they start operating will come from tourists.

They hope to attract 10 million tourists in five years starting this year from 2.6 million in 2006.

Foreign gaming experts are optimistic with the Philippines, claiming lots of tourists will be coming here because in Macau, they have a hard time communicating, according to Tim Shiah, of Wynne Resorts Las Vegas and Macau.

The Jayport Holdings said the Asian legitimate casino industry is worth $4.1 billion and will grow by about 6 percent annually for the next 20 years.

The Far Eastern Economic review in its report said Asians are expected to spend $23 billion in casinos worldwide by 2010.

The worlds leading international gaming executives and experts are here for the Asia’s Gaming and Entertainment (GEM) plus Leisure Expo Conference 2007 at Hyatt Hotel and Casino from March 21 to 23.

"Asia’s GEM 2007 marks the paradigm shift of Pagcor from casino to entertainment. For our country to recover economically, we need tourism and for us to invite tourist to come here we need projects like Asia’s GEM and get the support of foreign investors," Genuino said.

Pagcor earned $25 million last year, up from 2005’s $23 million, wherein 90 percent of it came from business operations.