Kreate Design to develop casino at Colombo Lotus Tower
Singapore’s Kreate Design Pte Ltd plans to open an entertainment venue with a casino in Sri Lanka’s tallest building.
Sri Lanka.- Singapore-based design company Kreate Design Pte Ltd has announced that it has agreed to lease one floor of the Colombo Lotus Tower in Sri Lanka’s capital. It plans to develop a casino, international conference centres, shopping, water sports and other entertainment options.
Kreate Design said it plans to invest US$1bn over the next three years, the largest investment in Sri Lanka since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has reportedly agreed to pay the Lotus Tower Management Company a six-month refundable deposit as part of the 10-year agreement to lease a floor in Sri Lanka’s talest builing.
It will pay US$1.4m a year for a floor in what is Sri Lanka’s tallest building, with a 10 per cent increment every two years. The company is expected to begin operations in April next year.
Diana Gamage, Sri Lanka’s State minister of tourism, said: “This will enable Colombo Lotus Tower as a hub to develop trade, investment and tourism activities between Singapore and Sri Lanka.”
In July, the government of Sri Lanka announced it was going to issue casino licences to obtain new income and boost an economy that has been seriously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved amendments to a 1988 betting law to raise the annual tax on gambling companies from LKR200m to LKR500m (US$1.4m).
