In Japan, Osaka MP Nobuyuki Baba of the Japan Innovation Party says he expects the central government to approve an integrated resort in the prefecture sometime this month.
This month, commissioners are expected to announce the results of two bids submitted in April of last year to develop integrated resorts (IRs) in Osaka and Nagasaki.
Baba credited his party’s leadership for taking up the Osaka proposal with national lawmakers and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), according to GGRAsia.
“Top people of the [Japan Innovation] party have worked on the government and LDP. The party now has come to think that the government would give a decision, which should be positive for Osaka, before the Diet [parliamentary] session starts,” Baba was quoted as saying.
That session is expected to start in January.
Osaka has proposed a JPY1.08 trillion (US$8.1 billion) IR to be developed on Yumeshima Island by MGM Resorts International and the Orix Corp.
Nagasaki’s proposal includes a JPY133.380 (US$3.7 billion) IR adjacent to the popular Huis ten Bosch Dutch-themed amusement park in Sasebo City. If approved, it will be developed by Casinos Austria International and its local partners.
Meanwhile, the Japan government has allotted JPY3.62 billion (US$27.2 million) for the fiscal budget of its Casino Regulatory Commission, an increase of 3 percent, less than the 10 percent hike requested by the body, which will oversee Japan’s nascent casino industry. Commission staff will increase by seven to 164.
