Wakayama aims at casino RFP in spring 2020

Dec 11, 2019 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck  

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Authorities at Japan’s Wakayama prefecture (pictured) plan to launch in spring 2020 a request-for-proposal (RFP) process seeking private-sector partners for a tilt at establishing there a casino resort.

The local authorities made the announcement in the prefectural assembly on Tuesday. That is according to information collated by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.

Wakayama – after an RFP starting in the spring – will aim to choose a private-sector partner by the autumn of 2020.

That would put Wakayama on a similar schedule in its plans for a casino complex – i.e., integrated resort or “IR” as they are known in Japan – as the timetable announced by Yokohama city in late October and by Nagasaki prefecture in early December.

Wakayama’s ability to launch a spring RFP will depend on the national government having completed its basic IR plan by January, stated our correspondent. Industry insiders expect the national government’s finalised basic policy on IR to be announced in the first quarter of 2020.

Nonetheless, according to a November statement by Osaka city and prefecture – a rival metropolis in the casino race – Osaka will by June already have reached the stage of naming its IR partners.

A maximum of three casino licences – each for a single venue – will be permitted in a first phase of development, with the race to be decided by the national government in 2021 at the earliest.

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