MGM Grand Macau, a new casino project, broke its ground here on Wednesday.

Hundreds of local and overseas guests witnessed the ground- breaking ceremony, including He Xiao Wei, deputy director of Liaison office of China's central government in the Cacao Special Administrative Region (SAR), and Francis Tam, the SAR's secretary for economy and finance.

The US-Macao joint venture will hopefully provide world class facilities and entertainment to the guests, Terry Lanni, the running chief executive of the casino told the gathering.

The multi-functional project will house 600 rooms, suites and villas, a casino offers 300 table games and 1,000 slot machines and nine restaurants, Lanni said.

He added that the total project cost is estimated at 975 million US dollars and the project will be completed in the second half of 2007.

MGM Mirage, holding a 50-percent share of the project, boasts one of the world leading hotels and gaming companies. It owns and operates 24 properties in the United States.

Pancy Ho, member of the local gaming tycoon Ho's family, holds the other 50 percent shares.

There are 17 casinos currently in Macao.

Source: Xinhua