Several Parties Hold Talks with US Gaming Company Exec

Ljubljana, 25 July

Representatives of three parliamentary parties have met Jan Jones, senior vice president of US gaming company Harrah's Entertainment, exchanging views on a mega gaming centre that Harrah's is planning to build in the border city of Nova Gorica in partnership with the local gaming company Hit.

Borut Pahor, the head of the opposition Social Democrats (SD), welcomed foreign investment in Slovenia, after meeting the US official on Tuesday. He believes the EUR 750m resort, which includes hotels, casinos, wellness centres and other facilities, could unite the Italian border town of Gorizia with Slovenia's Nova Gorica. Pahor believes the project could provide Nova Gorica with "new jobs, more value added and a development drive that we all aspire for". New investments to Slovenia would also bring more people with higher education to Slovenia, Pahor told STA on Wednesday. The head of the largest opposition party also believes it imperative that Harrah's representatives discuss the investment with the local community. "The investment is of such magnitude that it can alter the identity of this city in the next ten years." Pahor moreover wants the company to be aware that it does not only hold rights but also duties to the local environment.
Nada Skuk, the vice president of the junior coalition People's Party (SLS), meanwhile voiced her disapproval of "such expansion of gaming in Slovenia". The party believes that gaming is an ethically contentious industry, which makes financial benefits equally disputable, Skuk told STA today.
Jones also met Zmago Jelincic, the head of the opposition National Party (SNS). Jelincic told STA today that the talks served to "clear many issues" and added that the project presented a "unique opportunity". Jelincic, whom the Americans had allegedly promised aid in his project to construct an aeronautical museum in nearby Ajdovscina, said that the government's plan to progressively lower gaming taxes in accordance with the increasing profits was logical.

Several Parties Hold Talks with US Gaming Company Exec

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