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All set to roll at The Marina Bay Sands
The money – S$1.3 billion – has been delivered. The signatures are all in place. And the team at Las Vegas Sands (LVS) is ready to begin work to build The Marina Bay Sands™ Integrated Resort.
The payment comes three months after LVS successfully won the bid to build Singapore’s first Integrated Resort (IR).
At the signing ceremony to mark the handover of the 21-hectare Marina Bay IR site to LVS, Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of Singapore Tourism Board (STB), called the development 'an important project for the STB, as well as for Singapore’s tourism industry and economy.'
'Besides boosting Singapore’s attractiveness as a destination, it is also key to our aim to grow the BTMICE industry and to draw more world class tourism investments to Singapore so as to achieve our Tourism 2015 vision,' said Mr Lim.
Mr Sheldon Adelson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LVS, said he was confident LVS would deliver on its promise to Singapore.
'Together with Singapore’s reputation and track record in the industry, The Marina Bay Sands™ will become a powerful catalyst to propel Singapore’s status as a leading MICE hub.'
LVS’s construction and development teams have begun pre-construction work. The company has also started pre-marketing activities to ensure a steady pipeline of MICE events and pre-leasing initiatives to fill its retail space.
It says it has identified event organisers in the IT, automotive, pharmaceutical and financial sectors.
Mr William Weidner, President and Chief Operating Officer, LVS, said the resort was on track to open in 2009 as planned and added: 'LVS will work closely with the STB and the relevant government agencies to ensure that The Marina Bay Sands™ remains aligned to Singapore’s economic, social and tourism priorities.'
LVS will invest more than S$5 billion to develop The Marina Bay Sands™. This is one of the largest investments in the world for a single IR. The integrated resort is expected to generate an additional S$2.7 billion to Singapore’s annual Gross Domestic Product and create 30,000 additional jobs throughout the economy by 2015.
Read more about The Marina Bay Sands™ | 
