Mongolia's reverence for horses is set to help it earn Chinese tourist revenue. (Shutterstock)
With a ban on gambling on China’s mainland, countries across Asia have been hoping to attract Chinese tourists by legalizing or encouraging the development of the age-old vice. Joining a long list that includes Macau, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, and South Korea is Mongolia, which is mulling a plan to legalize gambling on what it knows best: horses.
A new article in Bloomberg today states that the Mongolian government plans to propose laws to set up a professional horse-racing league and legalize betting. It may also cooperate with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to hold off-season races in the country.
This would allow Mongolia to gain a piece of the large and growing amount of Chinese gambling money that has been pouring into to locales across Asia. According to Bloomberg:
Wagering on horses might give Mongolia access to a piece of the Chinese gambling market that’s made Macau the world’s biggest gambling hub. Revenue in Macau, the only place in China with legalized casino gambling, will double by 2018, according to Aaron Fischer, an analyst with Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA.
Mongolia’s proximity to China provides it with a prime opportunity to tap into the booming Chinese tourism market. This will mark the first time gambling has been legal in 15 years, but the new relaxation of gambling laws may also give way to casinos—a Macau-operated casino previously operated in the country, but was closed in 1999 due to a corruption scandal.