Melco Crown joins early Japan casino bid

The casino developer is confident that it will obtain a license in the upcoming Japanese market.

Japan.- Chief executive and chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment Lawrence Ho Yau Lung said that he’s confident in his company’s attempt to obtain a Japan casino license. Melco is joining a list of operators that expressed their intentions to work in the newest Asian market.

“Japan is the best opportunity for a casino resort investment outside Macau, so the competition is going to be very intense: the largest gaming and entertainment firms from around the world as well as local large-scale Japanese firms will head for it. But we are still confident about it,” said Ho during a meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Almost two weeks ago the CEO said that the company is willing to spend whatever it needs to win, and that they’re determined to work with the Japanese government and local partners and communities to create the city’s first integrated resort which delivers long lasting benefits to Japan.

As the casino licensing process has not been established in Japan yet, it is expected that the government would name the future operators by 2019, whilst the gaming venues would start their operations from two to three years after the announcement. Genting, Las Vegas Sands, MGM and Hard Rock are among the companies that already expressed their desire to land a license in the country to operate their services.

Specialists said that it is estimated that the Gross Gaming Revenue would exceed US$10 billion from the get-go countrywide.  Japan will wait to launch its industry until 2023, and lawmakers estimate that initially there will only be three licenses issued in the Asian country, which will be announced in two years.