Just 3% of Singapore’s resident population visited the city’s casinos in 2023, highlighting its success in keeping problem gambling rates low according to information from the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) in its 2023/24 Annual Report.
The update was provided in comments from GRA Chairman Tan Tee How, who noted that the number of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents who visited either of Singapore’s casinos – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa – in 2023 numbered 99,000 or 3.0% of the Singapore adult population. Singapore charges citizens a daily levy of SG$150 or annual levy of SG$3,000 to enter its casinos.
“Through close collaboration with the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Singapore Police Force, GRA has continued to achieve good outcomes, with both casino crime and problem gambling rates remaining low,” he said in his foreword. “So has the visitorship by Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.”
Tan also pointed to the GRA’s key initiatives over the past year, with a particular focus on embracing change, innovating for the future and developing its capabilities.
As recently outlined by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore’s key agencies have completed a review of the Casino Control Act with legislative amendments targeted to be implemented by next year. These will include the implementation of cashless gaming, with Tan noting the importance of Singapore updating its regulatory preparedness for future technologies.
“In carrying out this review, we aim to enhance regulation of casinos and our licensees, ensure operational effectiveness and future-readiness of our regulatory regime, and strengthen protection for vulnerable groups,” he said in the Annual Report.
Similarly, Tan said the GRA is increasingly implementing technological advancements into its day-to-day activities to enhance productivity.
“In the past year, we have been seeing the rise and proliferation of generative Artificial Intelligence,” he observed. “We must learn to harness this technology so that we can uncover better and smarter ways of working.
“In many areas of our work, GRA officers are increasingly adopting Pair Chat, a large language model developed for public officers and government agencies to enhance work processes.
In addition, having started our digital transformation journey five years ago, GRA’s key regulatory functions such as licensing, investigations and approvals are now substantially transformed, with risk-based approaches entrenched in our regulatory practices, systems and processes. This has resulted in productivity savings and officers are now able to devote more time towards areas of work that require human expertise and judgment.
“GRA will continue to equip our officers with the competency, tools, skills and environment to build a smart GRA for the future.”