Osaka to discuss draft ordinance to combat gambling addiction
The prefectural assembly’s autumn session runs until December 15.
Japan.- A draft ordinance promoting countermeasures against gambling addiction has been approved for discussion by the prefectural assembly in Osaka. Approved on Wednesday (October 26), the draft ordinance will be discussed during the current prefectural council session, which runs until December 15.
The draft ordinance proposes comes in the wake of Osaka’s IR bid and includes measures designed to combat gambling addiction, including a gambling damage management policy under the Basic Law on National Measures to Combat Gambling Addiction, which came into effect in October 2018.
The draft stipulates that authorities will form an “expert panel” on gambling addiction and a special fund to help the prefecture promote safer gambling.
Osaka has selected MGM-Orix as its partner for its IR bid. The consortium proposes to invest JPY1tn (US$9.1bn) and include three hotels providing approximately 2,500 rooms, a MICE facility measuring 68,000 square meters, a 3,500-seat theatre and various Japanese cultural experiences and retail facilities. It would employ about 15,000 people.
Last week, Taku Ikeshita, a deputy from the Japan Innovation Party, said the government is unlikely to approve Osaka’s IR project before the end of the year. In a parliamentary question-and-answer session with prime minister Fumio Kishida, Ikeshita called for the approval not to be delayed beyond March 2023, warning that this could delay Osaka’s planned IR timetable by between one and three years.
Fumio Kishida didn’t comment on the timetable but said the government was following procedures. He stressed the government’s commitment to IRs to boost tourism.
