GGRAsia – Osaka earmarks US$4.5mln for IR effort in fiscal year 2023

Osaka earmarks US$4.5mln for IR effort in fiscal year 2023

Feb 17, 2023 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

The prefectural and city authorities of Osaka, in Japan, have allocated an aggregate JPY600 million (US$4.5 million) for fiscal year 2023 beginning in April for their joint pursuit of an integrated resort (IR) with casino.

The budget – to be allocated to the Osaka IR promotion bureau – is down 6.4 percent on the financial-year 2022 budget, according to GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

Out of the IR-related budget for fiscal-year 2023, JPY115 million is to implement “political measures,” with the rest to cover costs associated with personnel.

The information was disclosed on Wednesday by the Osaka prefecture in its draft budget for the coming fiscal year.

The tilt at a casino resort in Osaka is jointly run by the prefectural and city authorities. The costs for the operations of the Osaka IR promotion bureau are split by the prefecture and the city authorities.

Osaka made an application to the national government in April last year, but is still waiting – in common with the other hopeful for a casino resort, Nagasaki – for a response from the central authorities.

Osaka has teamed with casino operator MGM Resorts International and Japan’s Orix Corp as its private-sector partners for a tilt at an IR. The resort complex (pictured in an artist’s rendering) would – according to past statements – require an initial investment of JPY1.08 trillion (US$8.02 billion, at current exchange rates), with a target date of 2029 for opening it.

The chief executive of MGM Resorts, Bill Hornbuckle, said earlier this month the group would be “challenged” in terms of a previously-stated aspiration to open a Japan gaming complex by 2029, “if we don’t hear soon” from the authorities there. His comments were made on the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

He added: “We had hoped to hear in October. Obviously, we sit here now in February not having heard. The process lies today with MLIT [the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism], the government agency that is going through and consistently asking us questions about the project, about the contract with the government of Osaka, etc.”

Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is the public department overseeing scrutiny of the Osaka and Nagasaki respective casino-resort proposals.

Earlier this week, Nagasaki prefecture said it had allocated just under JPY1.52 billion in its draft budget for fiscal year 2023 for its tilt at a casino resort.