GGRAsia – Still chance of casino resort nod: Nagasaki prefecture

Still chance of casino resort nod: Nagasaki prefecture

Jun 16, 2023 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

The government of Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture says it “thinks there is still a chance” its development proposal for an integrated resort (IR) with casino will be approved by the national government.

The comment was on Thursday in the first question-and-answer session of the Nagasaki prefectural assembly in its current session, which runs from June 9 to July 4.

“The prefecture understands that the [national] government has been examining the IR District Development Plan of Nagasaki prefecture. It thinks there still is a chance [for it] to be approved,” said the statement.

That was a reference to an important step on the path to any local community in Japan being permitted to host a casino resort.

Nagasaki’s proposal is being assessed under a process coordinated by the Japan Tourism Agency and the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The assessment panel’s most recent meeting was on June 6, according to information collated by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

In mid-May the authorities in Nagasaki prefecture told GGRAsia they had no insight up to then, on the timing of the national government’s decision regarding their application to host a casino resort.

Nagasaki (pictured) submitted its proposal in April last year, the same time as Osaka prefecture submitted its own scheme. Osaka’s IR District Development Plan was approved in principle in April this year by the national authorities, with just under 66 percent of the available assessment points.

Nagasaki has mentioned a fundraising target of JPY438.3 billion (US$3.12 billion at current exchange rates) for its scheme, due to be on land at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo. Casinos Austria International Japan Inc would be a commercial partner.

Nagasaki prefecture has said the “financial arrangers” for the scheme include Credit Suisse AG, CBRE, and Cantor Fitzgerald Securities Japan Co Ltd.

Japanese scholar Toru Mihara said in a recent interview with GGRAsia that, in his view, the consortium involved in the Nagasaki proposal could “collapse” if “nothing happens in the next six months”.

“I think there are some issues that need to be clarified regarding Nagasaki’s proposal, which have also been pointed out by the central government. We don’t know what they are, [but] most probably it has to do with the funding scheme,” noted the scholar.