John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) and Melco Resorts & Entertainment (Melco) recently announced the grand opening of City of Dreams Sri Lanka on August 2, 2025.
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Sri Lanka Approves the Import of Casino Equipment
Sri Lanka’s Parliament Committee on Public Finance (COPF) lifts the casino equipment ban, with the introduction of the Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill.
COPF lifted the ban on the import of casino equipment, following the newly introduced Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill, aimed at tightening control over gambling operations. The government approached the committee seeking to remove the import restriction that had been imposed during Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
Harsha de Silva, COPF Chairman, said:
“I realised that Casino equipment was also in that list. So with the concurrence of the committee, I directed them to create a special mechanism to monitor every casino machine to be imported.”
De Silva also criticized the current bill as it lacks regulatory requirements. He thinks that the law is only to establish the regulator, but regulations must be legislated to manage the operations of the casinos. He then mentioned Singapore as a model, where two separate laws govern the regulator and casino operations.
De Silva added:
“My worry is that the government is going to legislate junket operations, but with no regulations to monitor. The other major issue is with online casinos with no regulation and no tax.”
The import ban was introduced under the Casino Business Regulation Act No. 17 of 2010. The government now wants to integrate gambling into its tourism and economic strategy.
Ravi Karunanayake, COPF member and former Finance Minister, thinks that the committee focuses on revenue generation:
“It is not our duty to assess the harmful effects of the move. We could only see how casinos could help the government earn revenue. This is why the approval was given.”
The Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill, introduced earlier this year, will regulate all gambling (land-based, online, and junket operators) under one authority. The new body will include finance, tax, intelligence, and police officials, plus independent experts. The bill proposes licensing, regulatory standards, anti-money laundering (AML), know-your-customer (KYC) rules, and responsible gambling measures.
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