Sands Corp., MGM could be the first to bid
Japan’s newly reelected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is vowing to ignite the nation’s economy through monetary easing and deficit-driven spending, according to GGRAsia.
The plan, familiarly known as “Abenomics,” has awakened hopes that a casino bill could pass in Japan before the end of the year, says Kazuaki Sasaki, director of the Integrated Resorts Gaming Academy in Japan and a professor at Nihon University College of Economics.
Sasaki predicts a revised IR promotion bill will be submitted to the Japanese parliament, known as the Diet, in May or June and be approved by the end of November.
Members of Abe’s cabinet are already “preparing the IR implementation law,” which could pass in 2016, he said. The implementation process would lay out how legal casinos would be regulated, GGRAsia reported.
Gaming companies including the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International have expressed interest in Japan if casino gaming is legalized. Last month, Bill Hornbuckle, president of MGM Resorts, told GGRAsia that his company was still “very optimistic” about the prospects for legal gaming in the country.
