GGRAsia – Osaka, Nagasaki submit IR bids to Japan’s national govt

Osaka, Nagasaki submit IR bids to Japan’s national govt

Apr 27, 2022 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

Japan’s Osaka and Nagasaki prefectures have each submitted a casino resort proposal to the national government. The governors of those places said in respective announcements on Tuesday that the relevant application – in the form of an IR District Development Plan – had been made.

Thursday (April 28) is the Japanese government’s deadline for interested prefectures to present a bid to host an integrated resort (IR), as large-scale casino complexes with tourism facilities are known in that country.

The slated cost for the Nagasaki scheme is JPY438.3-billion (US$3.4-billion at current exchange rates), including JPY175.3-billion via equity. Osaka’s resort complex would – according to previous statements – require an initial investment of JPY1.08 trillion, with a target date of 2029 for opening it.

After Wakayama’s prefectural assembly rejected the local plan for a casino resort, Osaka and Nagasaki were the only two Japanese prefectures left in the Japan IR race.

Up to three casino resorts can be permitted nationally under Japan’s existing liberalisation programme. The country’s government requires IR District Development Plans to include documentation as evidence of ability to raise funds for such schemes.

Prior to applying to the national government for the right to host an integrated resort, local governments had to find a private-sector partner for their respective projects.

Regulations governing the selection process make no mention of a deadline for the national government to reach a decision on submitted applications. According to GGRAsia’s correspondent, industry expectations are that a final decision could be made in the autumn of 2022.

Osaka City Council had given in late March its approval for the local government to apply to the national authorities for the right to host an integrated resort in that community.

The consortium for an Osaka gaming resort tilt is led by United States-based casino operator MGM Resorts International and Japan’s Orix Corp.

A plenary session of the Nagasaki prefectural assembly voted on April 20 in favour of the final draft of the IR District Development Plan outlining the Japanese metropolis’ proposal for a casino complex.

The latest available information only mentions Casinos Austria International Japan Inc, Nagasaki’s private-sector partner, as an equity investor in the project.

According to information collated by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent, Nagasaki’s recently-elected governor, Kengo Oishi, said in Tuesday comments that the prefecture’s IR plan was not able to name fund providers – at the request of those parties.