GGRAsia – No news of Nagasaki suitor exit as of Friday: local govt

No news of Nagasaki suitor exit as of Friday: local govt

Aug 09, 2021 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

A spokesperson for the Japanese prefecture of Nagasaki (pictured) told GGRAsia that as of Friday, the authority had not “received any notification of withdrawal from any of the applicant groups” interested in being a partner for a possible casino resort in that jurisdiction.

The email from the prefecture’s Integrated Resort Promotion Division did not name any individual company or consortium. It said this was in the context of the prefecture being “still in the public tender procedure,” and as a result, the authority “cannot disclose specific communications with the applicants”.

Hong Kong-listed firm Oshidori International Holdings Ltd – a previously-confirmed suitor for a casino complex or integrated resort (IR) as they are known in Japan – had said in a Friday statement that unless the request-for-proposal (RFP) process for Nagasaki was “conducted in an ethical manner,” it was “withdrawing from participating in the RFP”.

Oshidori had paired with United States-based tribal casino operator Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment for the Nagasaki bid.

The spokesperson for the prefecture stated in the Friday email to GGRAsia: “Nagasaki prefecture has always proceeded with the public tender in a fair and equitable manner following the public tender guidelines and all relevant laws.”

The person added: “We have already entered the final stages of the process and the results will be presented as scheduled”.

Three would-be commercial partners have been participating in Nagasaki’s RFP process. Aside from Oshidori, they are: Niki Chyau Fwu (Parkview) Group; and Casinos Austria International Japan.

The contenders – including Oshidori – submitted last week their final presentations to the authorities in Nagasaki. That is to be followed by the actual selection of a partner, for the prefecture to make a submission to the national government by spring 2022.

Nagasaki prefecture’s chosen site for such a scheme is land at Huis Ten Bosch theme park, in Sasebo city, part of Nagasaki prefecture.