Osaka urges Japan to pick IR hosts

Governor Ichiro Matsui has urged the central government to decide on the areas where IRs will be in order to select an operator.

Japan.- The Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Act has already been approved but Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui continues to push the national government to speed up the process that will get the casino industry landing in Japan. He said the prefecture wants to tentatively select the operator with it will partner with over the next year to have a Yumeshima venue open by 2024.

“The central government can designate those local areas that have already raised their hands as ‘planned certification areas’ and then it would be okay to later narrow them down to three locations,” governor Matsui proposed. He also explained that the ‘planned certification area’ designation could help the local governments accelerate the process.

Even as the IR bill sailed through the Japanese Legislature, Governor Matsui expressed his concerns that bureaucracy may slow down the process, stopping Osaka from getting a casino up and running before the 2025 World Expo at Yumeshima. He said: “At this rate it will take them four or five years to select the locations.”