Japan govt comments not altering Nagasaki local IR plan

Jan 21, 2020 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck  

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Nagasaki prefecture in Japan has told GGRAsia that for now there is “no change” in the timetable regarding its tilt at hosting a “Nagasaki-Kyushu” casino resort, despite hints on Monday from the national authorities that they might delay publication of the so-called basic policy on integrated resorts or “IRs” as such gaming and tourism schemes are known in that nation.

Nagasaki – as the preferred bidding authority for the Kyushu region – hopes to house such a facility at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park (pictured) in Sasebo city.

The national basic policy would determine Japan’s central authorities’ guidelines for selecting host cities for the IRs. The possibility of delaying the public announcement of the basic policy came on heels of an emerging bribery scandal in the country tied to the IR idea, including allegations against former ruling-party member and lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto over claims of casino lobbying by Chinese online gaming firm 500.com Ltd.

In December, Nagasaki governor Hodo Nakamura said his administration planned by March this year to have ready its local IR implementation policy. That would be followed by a request-for-proposal (RFP) process later in the spring, and the selection of a partnering casino operator by the autumn, Mr Nakamura said at the time.

The intended announcement of Nagasaki prefectural IR Implementation Policy would “reflect” the local public opinions on the resort project, which the local government had collected from December 20 to January 17, Nagasaki prefecture briefly noted to us.

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