(May 14): Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said his government won’t consider approving another casino in the Southeast Asian nation.

“Affirmative no,” Anwar told Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday (May 14), when asked if his administration would allow a second casino in Malaysia.

“There’s no necessity for Malaysia to venture into the casino business,” Anwar said. “We are focusing on digital transformation, energy transition, AI, and we believe that this is adequate to push the country forward.”

Bloomberg News reported last month that Malaysia was in early discussions with tycoons about opening a casino in Forest City, a property development in Johor state near neighbouring Singapore. The report, which cited people familiar with the matter, said Anwar discussed the idea with Berjaya Corp Bhd (KL:BJCORP) founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan and Genting Bhd’s (KL:GENTING) Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay. His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, was also represented, the people told Bloomberg.

Anwar said afterward that there were no plans to issue a casino licence in Forest City and denounced the report as a “lie”. Tan and Lim denied participating in such a meeting.

Anwar said on Tuesday that he responded strongly to the report because it was disrespectful to the king, but added that “nobody was arrested” and it’s time to “move on”.

Malaysian authorities have charged several people with making seditious remarks on social media and in a private WhatsApp group in relation to the casino report.

Malaysia has granted only one casino licence, which was given to Genting in 1969. It contributed as much as RM5 billion annually to the government’s revenue before the pandemic, according to a report by UOB Kay Hian Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-based brokerage.

Casinos are controversial in Muslim-majority Malaysia. After Bloomberg’s report was published, Johor Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said that no casinos would be opened or allowed to operate in the state.