Bill may be pushed to next session
A member of the House of Representatives of the Japanese National Diet reportedly told analyst at CIMB Securities Ltd. that the country’s integrated resort bill is likely to pass in the current parliamentary session, legalizing casino resorts in the country, said analysts Michael Ting and Jensen Poon in a note late last month.
“We were told that the Promotional IR bill has a 70 percent chance of passing by the end of the current Diet session on September 27,” wrote analysts for the firm. They then cautioned, “Given the delays in the past, we will not be surprised if the passing of the Promotional IR bill gets further delayed until next year’s Diet session. Given the expected lengthy discussion period for the follow-on Implementation IR bill, tender and construction processes, our early best-case scenario is for the Japanese casinos to begin operations well after the 2020 Japan Olympics, possibly 2022.”
The main Diet session of the year ended last month, but parliament will continue to meet until September 27 in a so-called “extraordinary session” to pass legislation considered urgent by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
With the extension, “the IR bill may be possibly discussed,” wrote the analysts. But two other nongaming-related bills must be discussed prior to the IR bill. If Japan does not legalize casinos, they added, it would be a plus for South Korea’s 16 foreigners-only casinos. Those venues rely on Japanese visitors, who comprise the second-largest tourist group to South Korea after Mainland China.
And even if Japan’s initial IR bill passes, years of negotiations could follow before the first resorts open. The Diet would have a year to develop regulations, a tax structure and a bidding process.
That process has not diminished interest in the marketplace, according to GGRAsia. Last month Japanese pachinko hall operator Dynam Japan Holdings Co. Ltd. said in a Hong Kong filing it’s ready to enter the “resort development business” in Japan, and could eventually own and operate its own gaming resort, possibly in Shimonoseki, the largest city on the island of Honshu.
Reuters reported the Chairman Yoji Sato was seeking a partnership for operations in Japan. The announcement was made over a year ago in 2014, when the initial bills from the Japanese government legalizing gambling were passed. U.S. casino operators including MGM Resorts International are also looking to run establishments in Tokyo and Osaka.
