Pertaining to Osaka’s bid for an integrated resort (IR) with casinos, an MP from the Japan Innovation Party suggested in the country’s parliament that it could be “a bit tough for the government to give the approval in autumn or winter 2022.”
“Please approve by March 2023 at the latest,” Taku Ikeshita stated in a parliamentary question-and-answer session with Japan’s political leader, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, last Tuesday.
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“If the government approval is delayed, the Osaka IR schedule could be delayed by one to three years,” said Mr Ikeshita, a national MP representing Osaka’s 10th district.
“Please show us when approval will be granted and how the Prime Minister recognizes the importance of IR,” the MP added. According to GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.
Proponents have previously proposed that an Osaka resort (shown in an artist’s rendering) open by the end of the current decade.
MGM Resorts International, the parent company of MGM Resorts Japan LLC, Osaka’s chosen operating partner for a proposed JPY1.08 trillion (US$7.2 billion at current exchange rates) scheme, stated previously that it expected Japan’s national government to arrive at a decision on Osaka’s bid by the autumn.
Mr Kishida did not comment specifically on the timetable for decision-making during Tuesday’s parliamentary session, but he did say the national government was “going ahead with the IR procedures properly.”
“IR is a very interesting opportunity to make Japan a tourism-oriented country,” the premier added.
In late April, Nagasaki prefecture applied to the national government for permission to operate a casino complex.
The bids from Osaka and Nagasaki are being reviewed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, as well as a ‘expert panel.’
According to information obtained by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent, the review committee is comprised of six academic professors, each of whom specializes in a different field and hails from a different university. There is also a medical doctor on the body who is said to have expert knowledge of gambling addiction. The committee was formed in July 2021.
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Tetsuo Saito, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism declined to disclose when the committee would make a decision on the proposals earlier this month.
Even if the applicants’ so-called IR district development plans are finalized, there are still a number of processes to be completed, in addition to the physical construction of the resorts, which is estimated to take several years.
The Japan Casino Regulatory Commission will need to conduct examinations of casino businesses and others in order to decide their suitability for a casino full license.
