{"id":777046728,"date":"2026-08-27T09:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T12:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777046728"},"modified":"2026-08-27T09:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T12:36:37","slug":"pacific-pearl-to-become-papua-new-guineas-first-licensed-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pacific-pearl-to-become-papua-new-guineas-first-licensed-casino","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Pearl expected to become Papua New Guinea\u2019s first licensed casino"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pacific Pearl in Port Moresby will have around 100 gaming machines, 20 tables and VIP rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Papua New Guinea.- Pacific Pearl<\/strong> has begun recruiting staff as it moves closer to opening what would be Papua New Guinea\u2019s first licensed casino. The opening, which is still pending a licence, would come almost 20 years after the Gaming Control Act 2007<\/strong> established a legal framework for the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located in the Paga Hill Special Economic Zone near Port Moresby<\/strong>, the casino is being developed by a Chinese company together with Fortuna Investments, which will also manage the property. It hopes to secure a licence to open before the end of 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The venue will have around 100 gaming machines, 20 gaming tables, a restaurant and VIP rooms. Management expects to target three main customer groups: local players, Australian and New Zealand expatriates working in the oil and gas sector and the city\u2019s Chinese expatriate community. Pacific Pearl is initially planned as a relatively small operation, but Fortuna is considering a second phase<\/strong> that could be around five times larger, developing the site into a larger tourist destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Former Star CEO fined US$494,200 and banned six years in Macau junket case<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pacific Pearl in Port Moresby will have around 100 gaming machines, 20 tables and VIP rooms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777046738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Pacific Pearl is actively recruiting staff for what is anticipated to be Papua New Guinea's inaugural licensed casino, pending regulatory approval and targeting a 2026 opening. Developed by a Chinese entity and managed by Fortuna Investments, the Port Moresby venue will initially feature 100 gaming machines and 20 tables, with strategic plans for a significant second-phase expansion into a broader tourist destination. This development marks a pivotal moment for the nation's nascent regulated gaming sector, established by the Gaming Control Act 2007.","focusai_entities":"Pacific Pearl, Fortuna Investments","focusai_location":"Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Paga Hill Special Economic Zone, Australia, New Zealand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.85), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PNG Regulatory Framework","query":"What specific regulatory compliance challenges and governance frameworks must Pacific Pearl navigate to secure its operating license in Papua New Guinea, particularly concerning AML\/CTF and responsible gambling provisions?"},{"label":"Market Entry Strategy","query":"How might the initial operational scale and target demographic segmentation of Pacific Pearl influence the long-term market entry strategies for other international iGaming operators considering Papua New Guinea?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,28],"tags":[12436,25398,25397],"class_list":["post-777046728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-casino-news","tag-casinos","tag-pacific-pearl","tag-papua-new-guinea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777046728"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777046743,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046728\/revisions\/777046743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777046738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777046728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777046728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777046728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}