IR implementation draft by Sept says Osaka governor

May 11, 2023 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck  

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The governor of Japan’s Osaka prefecture says the local authorities and their planned development partners for a casino resort scheme (pictured in an artist’s rendering) will have ready by September in draft form a project implementation agreement.

The draft of the agreement would include a development timetable, said Hirofumi Yoshimura in a Wednesday press briefing.

He stated the two sides had “started to look into the overall timeline of the development and the opening date.”

The governor also remarked it was “quite reasonable to delay the opening date by about half a year because the central government gave the approval” for Osaka’s Integrated Resort (IR) District Development Plan, only “in April, which is about half a year later than they expected”.

Earlier this month Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of Osaka’s proposed casino operations partner, MGM Resorts International, said the scheme would “probably” open in the “first quarter [or] second quarter of 2030”.

Osaka’s district plan commits MGM and Japan’s Orix Corp to opening a resort in either the autumn or winter of 2029. Following Mr Hornbuckle’s remarks, it was reported Osaka was seeking clarification from the private-sector side.

The venture has been described as a JPY1.08-trillion (nearly US$8.0-billion at current exchange rates) venture located on an artificial island called Yumeshima, in Osaka Bay.

 

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