MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - Japanese arcade-game maker Universal Entertainment Corp. is in talks to get a local partner for its $2-billion gaming and entertainment complex in the Philippines capital Manila set to be completed in 2014, its chairman said on Thursday.

The local partner would operate the shopping establishments outside the main casino-hotel projects set to rise on a 45-hectare site along Manila Bay, said Kazuo Okada, also the biggest shareholder of Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Inc., after groundbreaking ceremonies for the project.

"The Philippines is a very attractive country to invest (in)," Okada told reporters, adding his group was "very confident" of pursuing the project after President Benigno Aquino was elected into office in 2010. Okada declined to give details about the talks for the partner.

The Philippines project has caused friction between Okada and Wynn Resorts, with the company objecting to Okada competing with it.

Okada has sued Wynn Resorts' founder, Steve Wynn, whom he accused of blocking access to records related to his investment in the casino operator.

Universal, through its subsidiary Tiger Resorts, Leisure and Entertainment Inc, is constructing two luxury casino hotels with more than 1,000 rooms in all, a budget hotel, and high-end shopping malls within the Manila Bay Resorts project.

The project is part of the Entertainment City integrated resort development which state firm Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) estimates will attract investments of at least $5 billion over the next five years.

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By Reuters