By Prak Chan Thul
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The Finance Ministry's plans to open the exclusive football betting concession currently held by CamboSix to competitive bidding has run aground due to a lack of interest, officials said Thursday.
In August, the ministry announced that it was putting up a four-year sports betting concession for bids of $2 million each year in fees to be paid to the government.
That price tag was too high for companies and not even CamboSix, which had the original contract that expires in 2007, came forward, Finance Ministry Secretary of State Chea Peng Chheang said.
"They think that if they do it, they would not make a profit," he said.
The $2-million-per-year concession fee would be reduced, but Chea Peng Chheang said that it was not known by how much. Currently, CamboSix pays the government $300,000 a year to run its gambling business, he said.
That was just a promotion in the beginning. Now we should collect as much income as we can," he added.
Mey Vann, director of the finance industry department at the ministry, said this month was the second time a deadline for bids for the sports betting license has passed with no takers.
The ministry does not yet know when bidding would be reopened, he said.
Heng Say, administration chief at the Hong Kong-based CamboSix, declined to comment about its concession.
Local economist Kang Chandararoth said that the ministry of finance should base its yearly taxation for the concession on the current annual revenue earned by CamboSix.
"The ministry should be aware of the company's revenue," he added.
Chea Peng Chheang, however, maintained that the ministry does not know how much CamboSix has earned from the exclusive betting rights.
"We dont know," he said.
"But when we set $8 million [for four years operations], [CamboSix] calculated that they could not profit. So their revenue is lower than that," he added.
In August, the ministry announced that it was putting up a four-year sports betting concession for bids of $2 million each year in fees to be paid to the government.
That price tag was too high for companies and not even CamboSix, which had the original contract that expires in 2007, came forward, Finance Ministry Secretary of State Chea Peng Chheang said.
"They think that if they do it, they would not make a profit," he said.
The $2-million-per-year concession fee would be reduced, but Chea Peng Chheang said that it was not known by how much. Currently, CamboSix pays the government $300,000 a year to run its gambling business, he said.
That was just a promotion in the beginning. Now we should collect as much income as we can," he added.
Mey Vann, director of the finance industry department at the ministry, said this month was the second time a deadline for bids for the sports betting license has passed with no takers.
The ministry does not yet know when bidding would be reopened, he said.
Heng Say, administration chief at the Hong Kong-based CamboSix, declined to comment about its concession.
Local economist Kang Chandararoth said that the ministry of finance should base its yearly taxation for the concession on the current annual revenue earned by CamboSix.
"The ministry should be aware of the company's revenue," he added.
Chea Peng Chheang, however, maintained that the ministry does not know how much CamboSix has earned from the exclusive betting rights.
"We dont know," he said.
"But when we set $8 million [for four years operations], [CamboSix] calculated that they could not profit. So their revenue is lower than that," he added.
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