DUBAI, Oct 6, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US casino operator Wynn has received the first commercial gaming operator's licence to be issued in the United Arab Emirates where gambling is currently banned.

The licence was issued by the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, which was set up last year to allow for commercial gaming licences to be issued in the Gulf Arab state.

"Wynn Resorts ... is proud to be the recipient of the first commercial gaming facility licence in the UAE," said a statement posted on the group's website on Saturday.

It did not clarify whether "gaming" refers to gambling, and it made no mention of casinos.

Wynn operates casinos in Las Vegas and Boston as well as in Macau, a Chinese territory close to Hong Kong.

It is developing a luxury resort at Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven sheikhdoms that constitute the UAE which includes the tourist hub of Dubai.

The 1,542-room resort will have gaming amenities and is scheduled to open in early 2027.

Gambling is prohibited under Islamic laws in the oil-rich Gulf state, where the population is 90 percent foreign.

UAE authorities have for years denied reports that the country which neighbours Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, would lift a Gulf-wide ban on gambling.

But it has made a series of liberalising moves amid regional competition, notably from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

These included lifting a ban on unmarried couples living together,
loosening restrictions on alcohol and offering long-term residencies.

In 2022, the UAE adopted a Western-style Saturday-Sunday weekend, in what experts said was an attempt to maintain its edge over regional competitors.