Osaka prefecture and city officials have established a seven-person committee that will select the developer of an integrated casino resort on the man-made Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay.
The seven-member panel comprises problem gambling experts, financial auditors of big corporations, and officials at Osaka’s tourism authority, among others.
Asia-focused casino industry news outlet GGRAsia reports that Yoshiki Nishizawa, chief director at University Public Corporation Osaka, was appointed as chairman of the newly set up committee. Hiroshi Mizobata, head of the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau, was tapped as vice chairman of the seven-member body. A senior Osaka city government official and a senior Osaka prefecture government official are also believed to be part of the committee.
News about the establishment of the new panel emerged as Osaka is gearing up preparations to launch a request-for-proposal (RFP) process later this month for companies interested to participate in the city’s bid to win the right to host one of Japan’s first three integrated resorts with dedicated casino floors.
Start of the Race
Osaka is set to launch the RFP process even before the anticipated publication of the final version of the central government’s basic policy on integrated resorts. It is believed that said policy will be released in the first quarter of 2020.
In December 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rammed a law legalizing casino gambling through the Diet (Japan’s central government). Lawmakers passed in the summer of 2018 a second law, the so-called IR Implementation Bill, that set out many of the principles under which the nation’s casino industry would be built. However, the national government is still working out the actual regulatory process.
Japanese legislators plan to issue up to three licenses for Las Vegas-style resorts that will feature casinos, large hotels, and MICE facilities, among other amenities.
Local governments first need to find private partners willing to build the resorts in order to be able to apply for the three licenses. The central government has revealed that it would not accept applications for the three permits until January 2021.
Osaka officials said last month that with the start of the RFP process expected to occur in December, they would likely announce the winning bidder around June 2020, that is to say well ahead of the start of the application process for one of the three licenses up for grabs.
Three Likely Bidders
Osaka launched this spring a request-for-concept (RFC) process. By mid-2019, there were seven big companies to have expressed interest in developing the city’s integrated resort, should it win a license.
However, several of those dropped plans to pursue IR development opportunities in Osaka after Yokohama announced that it would participate in the casino license race in August. US casino giant Las Vegas Sands and Hong Kong-listed Melco Resorts & Entertainment were two of the companies that had for years pitched plans to expand in Osaka, but then shifted their focus to Yokohama.
Late last month, Osaka officials said that three RFC participants stuck until the end of the process. Those were MGM Resorts International and its local partner, financial services group ORIX Corporation, Galaxy Entertainment Group, and Genting Singapore.
Many say that MGM, which operates casino resorts in Nevada, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Macau, has the inside track in the Osaka casino race, but its rivals Galaxy and Genting have just as much experience in the operation of major properties. Galaxy is one of the six companies authorized to run casino resorts in Macau, while Genting Singapore runs Resorts World Sentosa, one of Singapore’s two IRs with Las Vegas-style casinos.
In addition, more interested bidders could enter the RFP process when it starts later this month. In other words, Osaka officials will certainly have a tough decision to make when the time comes for selecting their preferred casino developer.
Source: Osaka gets 7-strong committee to select casino IR partner, GGRAsia
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