GGRAsia – Wakayama delays public hearings on IR pending funding info

Wakayama delays public hearings on IR pending funding info

Nov 19, 2021 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck

Japan’s Wakayama prefectural government decided on Friday to postpone a public consultation process on a proposal by Clairvest Neem Ventures KK to be its partner on a large-scale casino complex or integrated resort (IR), pending clarification on issues related to funding and the structure of the consortium.

GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent says the decision followed a recommendation by the prefectural assembly.

On Friday, the assembly had held the second meeting of its IR special committee, to examine a draft of the district development plan for Wakayama (pictured), a key stage of the process before the prefecture can bid to the national government for the right to host a casino complex.

United States-based casino operator Caesars Entertainment Inc had in September said it would – albeit with “no capital commitment” – be a partner in the Clairvest Neem Ventures consortium.

Friday’s meeting heard that Caesars Entertainment was still part of the plans. But after the committee had heard from the Clairvest Neem Ventures entity, the committee decided it needed more information on the build up of the consortium, and how the JPY470 billion (US$4.12 billion) estimated cost of the scheme would be raised.

Based on the recommendation from the committee, the local government agreed that it needed additional information on the two topics before proceeding with the consultation process.

On October 26, Wakayama prefecture announced that it would have a total of 14 public hearings in the prefecture from November 25 to December 5, regarding the draft of the IR District Development Plan.

At a meeting on October 8 of the Wakayama prefectural assembly’s IR special committee, representatives of the prefectural government said that Clairvest Neem Ventures would need by November 25 to show the probability of it being able to set up a special-purpose company and to be able to raise funds for the project.