Murren: Pace has “started to accelerate”
Japanese lawmakers seem intent on passing the country’s Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill, and could extend the current parliamentary session beyond June 20 to accomplish it.
According to GGRAsia, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Komeito, could continue the session by “around a week” or even into early July make sure that the IR Implementation Bill can pass both houses of the Diet.
“We are short of deliberation time for important bills,” said a senior LDP member quoted by the Japan Times. “We cannot help but extend the Diet term.”
A key provision of the bill, which deals with anti-addiction measures, was cleared by the House of Representatives on May 25, then went to the House of Councillors for review and voting.
Speaking to the Nikkei Asian Review, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren noted that process to start a legal casino gaming industry in Japan has “started to accelerate.”
“Companies and municipalities that have been silent up until now would start moving” should the IR Implementation Bill be approved, Murren said. He added that three integrated resorts would “generate billions of dollars, making the market vastly larger than Singapore.”
The bill proposes the development of three casino resorts nationwide, with a fixed tax rate of 30 percent on gross gaming revenue. It sets a JPY6,000 (US$54) casino entry fee for locals, which gives them a total 24 hours of access, and limits casino visits by Japanese to three times a week and 10 times per month in aggregate.
