Nagasaki IR partner to cover US$1.5m in RFP costs

Nagasaki’s IR partner will also be expected to contribute around JPY14.7bn (US$141m) to improve traffic infrastructure around the proposed site.

Japan.- The private operator chosen for Nagasaki prefecture’s integrated resort bid will be expected to cover the costs of request-for-proposal (RFP) process, the prefecture has announced.

The prefecture said that the successful candidate to become its IR partner will have to pay JPY158m (US$1.5m) for the RFP and JPY10m (US$92,000) for a background check.

Takeshi Komiya, director of the prefecture’s IR Promotion Division also said that the cost of acquiring the 31-hectare candidate site will be paid by the three operators who pass the primary round in the tender.

The prefecture had already announced that Nagasaki’s IR partner would be expected to contribute around JPY14.7bn (US$141m) to improve traffic infrastructure around the proposed site.

There are currently five contenders that have qualified to progress to the next phase of the process but only three will pass to the next round.

Nagasaki expects to select its partner operator in August.

Citizens against Nagasaki IR project

A citizens group has launched a campaign against Nagasaki’s IR project.

Under the name “Stop Casino! Nagasaki Prefecture Network”, the group issued a statement which read: “We resent that the prefecture has proceeded steadily despite the serious situation of the prefecture’s residents during the Covid-19 pandemic.“

The group wants the project to be cancelled, claiming it would be a source of infection clusters because the IR would have closed, crowded spaces.

Representative Masao Tomonaga stated, “I have criticized the prefecture’s plan but now it has become a more concrete project. That is why we decided to make this press statement.”