This past weekend, it was announced via The Star that MQ Technology Bhd had partnered with Cambodian Resorts and Entertainment Co Ltd with plans to create a hotel and casino along with a theme park. The project would cost $30 million to complete and would be located in Banteay Chakrey which is an area of the Prey Veng Province of Cambodia.

The source of The Star stated that the Cambodian Resorts group was the owner of the land to be used and there is a sister company that holds a casino license which would allow casino gaming operations on the land. However, this is causing confusion as the proposed site is located near Phnom Penh which is the home of NagaCorp’s NagaWorld. The contract between NagaCorp and the government gives the company exclusive rights to casino operations within a distance of 200km of the capital city for some time, until 2035 in fact. The proposed site is actually 100km from Phnom Penh.

In the report, it was suggested that the joint venture may be seeking to use a local casino operator for the management of the gaming operations for the new project. The source did not specify if NagaCorp might be asked to take part.

After the announcement, it was found that the Cambodian Resorts group was connected to VW Win Holdings, a gaming firm of Cambodia, which is a subsidiary of Century Dynasty, who operates the CamLoto lottery business. Commercial registry documents for Cambodian Resorts and Entertainment has Michael Ho listed as a contact, the COO of VW Win.

Stanley Gooh Teik Keng, the Chairman of Century Dynasty, spoke with media in Cambodia, stating that Century Dynasty, CamLoto and VW Win are not involved in the project as far as he is aware. Reportedly, Ros Phirun, the deputy director of the Cambodian finance ministry, has stated that his office has not received gaming license applications that match the description of the joint venture’s plans.