Yokohama provides more details on IR committee

The committee will consist of seven people and will be entirely independent from the local government

Japan.- After hosting the first IR Expo in Japan, the government of Yokohama announced that it would ask the city’s assembly to set up an independent selection committee to choose its private-sector partner for an IR development. 

According to GGRAsia, the committee will consist of seven people who will be independent from the local government and will deliver their conclusions on each IR proposal.

The city will announce its IR implementation policy by the end of March and launch its partner selection via a request-for-proposal (RFP) process between April and December this year.

Yokohama is one of the main candidates to obtain one of the three IR licenses Japan’s government will hand out and the city is doing all it can to ensure it remains in the running.

From October to December 2019 the city received submissions from seven interested operators looking to construct an IR should it receive a licence.

Some of the interested companies are Wynn Resorts and Melco Resorts & Entertainment, which has already declared its “Yokohama First” policy and intention to open a local office in the city in September.

Las Vegas Sands also indicated in October that Yokohama had become the main focus of its plans for Japan and Sega Sammy Holdings has recently announced a strategic business alliance with UK firm Foster + Partners to jointly pursue an integrated resort license in the city.