Kazakhstan Looks to 'Desert Vegas'
ALMATY, Kazakhstan, April 3, 2006. Authorities in Kazakhstan say they are talking with investors about building a gambling and entertainment complex near the commercial capital, Almaty, reported the BBC.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev said he had long thought of building a sort of Las Vegas on the vast empty steppe outside the city.
Officials say a new complex would help to control the growth of casinos and gambling in Almaty itself.