Nagasaki to develop workforce for planned IR

Nagasaki’s prefectural government will hold a second Kyushu Regional Strategy Council (KRSC) meeting at the end of July.

Japan.- Nagasaki’s prefectural government has said it working to develop a workforce for its planned integrated resort.

the prefecture will hold a second Kyushu Regional Strategy Council (KRSC) meeting, this time composed of stakeholders in the tourism, hospitality and education sectors, at the end of the month.

In May, a meeting was held to discuss how to deal with potential addiction issues and handle concerns raised by IR opponents.

In June, authorities announced Oshidori International Holdings, Casinos Austria International and Niki Chau Fwu Group had entered the second stage of the prefecture’s bidding process. Each company will have to show its business strategies and plans to tackle gambling addiction issues.

Nagasaki is due to select its final candidate in August. The prefecture will then make a submission by 2022 in its bid for permission to develop an integrated resort.

The successful IR partner will have to pay JPY158m (US$1.5m) for the Request for proposal process and JPY10m (US$92,000) for a background check.

A few weeks ago, an anti-IR group called Stop Casino! Prefectural Citizens Network collected 10,416 signatures against the construction of an integrated resort in Nagasaki. However, it seems the groups that are opposed to the IR are weaker than in other cities like Yokohama.

In Yokohama, there are currently seven anti-IR mayoral candidates for the upcoming elections. Yasuo Tanaka, the former governor of Nagano prefecture Tanaka, is the latest to announce he will be a candidate.