GGRAsia – MGM Osaka and Osaka Expo issues unresolved: report

MGM Osaka and Osaka Expo issues unresolved: report

Aug 26, 2024 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

The head of an international body overseeing Expo 2025 Osaka, due to be held on Yumeshima island next year, has been quoted by a Japanese media outlet saying concerns are yet to be resolved about possible noise and other environmental impact on the exposition, from the nearby MGM Osaka integrated resort (IR) construction site.

The same newspaper feature on Sunday, cited an unnamed source at the development team for the casino project saying the resort’s timetable had been public information for some time. The source added that were there to be any construction pause during the six months of Expo 2025 it could actually lead to a longer delay, putting back the IR completion date target as well as adding costs. The scheme is presently due to launch in 2030 and already priced at JPY1.27-trillion (US$8.82-billion currently).

On the Expo 2025 side, Dimitri Kerkentzes, secretary-general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), was quoted on Sunday by Sankei Shimbun talking of the potential “negative impact” of the construction of casino complex MGM Osaka. The Expo 2025 event is to be held for 184 days from April 13 to October 13 next year in the Japanese metropolis (pictured in a file photo).

“I heard in June 2024 for the first time that the [MGM Osaka] IR construction is scheduled to start in April 2025,” Mr Kerkentzes, was cited as saying in the Sunday report, according to information reviewed by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

Kerkentzes added: “The impact includes dust, noise, obstruction to the landscape and [a] strained logistics network.”

He further noted: “Since 2019, BIE, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition and the Osaka governments have talked about the mutual influence between the Expo and IR.”

The BIE secretary-general was also quoted saying: “They made a promise to us that they would perfectly understand our concerns and the IR construction would never have any negative impact on the Expo.”

“Again, it is essential that we will adjust effectively among ourselves for the IR construction not to have a negative impact on a smooth operation of the Expo,” said Mr Kerkentzes.

In early August, the BIE was one of several voices calling for a pause in construction work of the MGM Osaka project during the expo period, several local Japanese media outlets reported at the time.

MGM Osaka is a project between MGM Resorts International, Japan’s Orix Corp, and a number of minority local investors. The entity developiing the project is Osaka IR KK.

Soon after the initial reports, Kansai TV, a local television news service, cited unnamed Osaka IR KK sources as saying the developer was “surprised” and “worried” about the pause request, and also mentioned likely cost blowouts if there was a pause during Expo 2025.

Sankei Shimbun’s Sunday report cited Mr Kerkentzes stating: “Since 2019, BIE, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition and the Osaka governments have talked about the mutual influence between the Expo and IR.”

The BIE secretary-general added: “They made a promise to us that they would perfectly understand our concerns and the IR construction would never have any negative impact on the Expo.”

“Again, it is essential that we will adjust effectively among ourselves for the IR construction not to have a negative impact on a smooth operation of the Expo,” said Mr Kerkentzes.

On July 31, during MGM Resorts’ second-quarter earnings call, Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president, had stated that piling works at the MGM Osaka site are expected to start “by May or June” in 2025, with a target date on the opening of the project still set in the “middle of 2030”.