The government of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan holds out hope that its proposed integrated resort (IR) with gaming will be approved by the country’s central government.
According to GGRAsia, in a statement Nagasaki officials wrote, “The prefecture understands that the government has been examining the IR District Development Plan of Nagasaki Prefecture. It thinks there still is a chance [for it] to be approved” by the Japan Tourism Agency and the country’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Nagasaki submitted its proposal in April 2022, along with the only other bidder, Osaka Prefecture. Osaka’s IR District Development Plan was approved “in principle” in April of this year, but the process for Nagasaki is ongoing.
The prefecture’s JPY438.3 billion (US$3.12 billion) IR would be developed on land near the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo City. Casinos Austria International Japan Inc. would be a commercial partner. Nagasaki officials say the “financial arrangers” for the project include Credit Suisse AG, CBRE, and Cantor Fitzgerald Securities Japan Co. Ltd.
Japanese scholar Toru Mihara recently told GGRAsia that time will soon run out on the proposed plan, which will “collapse” if “nothing happens in the next six months.
“I think there are some issues that need to be clarified regarding Nagasaki’s proposal, which have also been pointed out by the central government,” Mihara said. “We don’t know what they are, [but] most probably it has to do with the funding scheme.”
That is a clear reference to the recent Credit Suisse crisis, which led to the bank’s downfall and rescue this month by rival bank UBS. In March, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion to avert what the news outlet called “a banking sector meltdown.” The government said that allowing Credit Suisse to fail would “probably have triggered an international financial crisis.”
According to CNN, the acquisition created a Swiss banking behemoth with nearly $1.7 trillion in assets.
