Summary:
Japan’s Osaka MP Noboyuki Baba wants the government to approve Osaka’s integrated resort plan by the end of the year. The Osaka prefecture and city have been waiting for the approval of their IR District Development Plan for a long time. He said that they wanted the government to do it by the end of the calendar.
The leader of the Japan Innovation Party called on the country’s government to approve Osaka’s Integrated Resort plan featuring a casino by the end of the year.
The Osaka prefecture and city have been waiting for the approval of their IR District Development Plan for a long time. According to information gathered by GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent, Noboyuki Baba said that they wanted the government to do it by the end of the year.
The budget committee of the lower chamber of Japan’s parliament, the House of Representatives, heard a question and answer session on Monday from Mr Baba, who represents Osaka’s 17th district.
He was talking to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, whose department is overseeing the assessment of a bid submitted in April by the Osaka metropolis for a casino resort. Nagasaki prefecture and city applied to host a resort in their community.
Mr Saito stated that his ministry was going ahead with the examination procedures. He did not say when a final decision would be made on the Osaka IR bid.
The possibility of such a project being ready by the end of the current decade, as mentioned by its proponents, could be jeopardized by delays beyond March next year, according to another Osaka MP.
Mr Saito made reference to land issues for the proposed Osaka site in his reply to Monday’s calls.
The national authorities had asked for more information about the proposed site, according to the Osaka city mayor.
The location for Osaka’s proposed JPY1.08-billion (US$7.92 billion at current exchange rates) casino resort in partnership was referred to by Mr Baba in his parliamentary comments on Monday.
The expo will run for six months from April to October. The Osaka IR’s promoter hopes the resort can open by the end of the current decade.
The Osaka MP said thatIR should have a big impact on the Osaka and Kansai expo. If IR is determined, some companies have said they could invest in the expo.
I would like to know how important the IR policy is to the government, and how the overseas casino markets are doing. Business recovery in such places after Covid-19 was understood to be the latter’s reference.
The minister stated in his reply that the IR policy is one of the major policies to be a tourism-driven country. It has not changed at all.
The expert panel set by the ministry has been looking into the plan, especially in the Yumeshima land issues.
The casino markets in Nevada, in the U.S., and Singapore have recovered strongly, as have the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions businesses there.
He made reference to China’s zero- Covid policy and the recovery of the Macau casino market.
The zero-case policy has been suppressing the market in Macau.