January 13, 2021, 11:08 am ·
According to the Japanese newspaper The Nagasaki Shimbun, three casino resort operators express their interest in establishing an IR in the Japanese prefecture. From those three, two operators is based in the United States and one is in Asia.
At the moment, there is no official comment from the provincial officials on the newspaper report.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were three other casino resort operators that declared interest in the summer. They were Japan’s Current Corp; a Japan unit of Casinos Austria International Holdings GmbH; and Hong Kong-listed Oshidori International Holdings Ltd.
In November last year, Tokyo-listed Pixel Companyz Inc said that its main focus is on the Nagasaki prefecture and its pursuit of a Japanese casino licence. For that end, the company gathers a consortium.
Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture began on Thursday - as pledged - its request-for-proposal (RFP) process regarding the possibility of getting a casino resort there.
January 28 is the deadline for submitting application documents, with a resort operating partner to be chosen in “summer – autumn” this year, and any resort built, to open in the “mid- to late-2020s,” according to a memo released by the prefecture’s Integrated Resort Promotion Division.
“Inquiries regarding the application guidelines from prospective applicants will be accepted via email until January 15th, 2021,” added an official in an email to GGRAsia in response to our enquiry.
“We expect to have the IR operator selected at a time between summer and autumn of 2021,” added the person, referring to an integrated resort (IR) the term used in Japan for large-scale tourism complexes with a casino.
GGRAsia – Nagasaki to start casino RFP January 7, says governor ggrasia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ggrasia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Authorities in Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture are communicating with casino operators not previously in the direct orbit of the metropolis, with a view to possibly boosting the number of contenders for its upcoming request-for-proposal (RFP) process regarding getting a casino resort there, a Nagasaki official has confirmed to GGRAsia.
“We cannot comment about where the operators are from, but Nagasaki prefecture is open to continuing discussions with interested operators from Japan and overseas until we begin our public tender,” said the official, who asked not to be identified by name.
In Japan such schemes are known as integrated resorts (IRs). Up to three will be permitted nationally in a first phase of market liberalisation.