The Emirates became the first country in the Middle East to grant a casino license

International Desk

The United Arab Emirates has become the first country in the Middle East to license a commercial casino on its territory. On Saturday, US-based hotel and casino company Wynn Resorts was awarded a license in Abu Dhabi, according to Bloomberg.

Wynn Resorts is headquartered in Las Vegas, the capital city of the US state of Nevada. Wynn is recently building a luxury resort on Al Marjan Island in the Emirate (Kingdom) of Ras Al Khamia, United Arab Emirates. The company applied to the Emirates government to open a casino at the resort. The UAE government granted the license to Wynn Resort on Saturday after approving the application.

The resort is being built by a joint investment of Wynn Resort and Al Marjan Island and Ras Al Khamia. In a statement last August, Win Resort said that the company authorities have invested 514 million dollars for the project so far. This luxurious resort with 1 thousand 542 rooms will be inaugurated in 2027.

Gambling is prohibited in the Emirates like other countries in the Middle East as gambling is prohibited in Islam. However, Win Resort was stating in the application that only tourists who come from different countries of the world, including Europe-Asia, will be allowed to enter the casino of the resort. Basically based on these conditions, Abu Dhabi has issued the license.

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There are regular lotteries and commercial gaming in the Emirates. Last year, Emirates created a regulatory body to manage these properly.

Another US company, MJM, applied to open a casino in the emirate last month. That application is also expected to be approved by the country's government.

In 2022, the government of the Emirates took a grand plan to strengthen the tourism sector. Under this plan, it has been decided to invest 2720 million dollars in the tourism sector from 2022 to 2031 and welcome 4 crore tourists during this period.

Source: Bloomberg, RT