Japan to host online forum on IR projects

The Japan IR Forum will host discussions about integrated resort developments and how they could help the country’s post-pandemic recovery.

Japan.- An online symposium dubbed the Japan IR Forum will be held on April 21 and 22.

The event will be hosted by the Japan IR Forum committee and the Japan IR Association to promote the benefits of Japan’s proposed integrated resorts project and how it could help the country’s economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

One of the speakers will be the managing director at banking group Goldman Sachs, Simon Cheung, who will talk about the number of gaming resort projects already built or in development in the Asia Pacific region. There will also be presentations by Japanese academics.

According to local media, there will be also a discussion about how Japan can achieve a goal of receiving 60 million annual visitors after easing Covid-19 restrictions.

Japan’s IR project

Japan’s Casino Regulatory Commission will initialy grant licences for up to three casino resorts in the country. 

Nagasaki has chosen three casino operators to move forward to the next round of its tender and hopes to select its final candidate in August.

In Yokohama, Akiko Fujimura, an anti-IR candidate, has announced she will run for mayor in the next elections to be held on August 22. The current mayor has not yet clarified whether she will run for reelection. 

In Osaka, MGM-Orix remains the only contender to be its IR partner despite the extension to the deadline for submissions.