Masahiro Terada, Senior Manager, Integrated Resort Team at PwC Japan, said at the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila that he is hopeful the Implementation Bill will be put forward in the next Diet period and will be approved within this year.
Terada said the draft of the bill is about 90 % complete and is expected to allow two to three IRs in key Japanese cities.
Japan’s government pushed through a bill paving the way for legal casinos in the final hours of the final session of parliament last year. However, now the fine details need to be worked out.
A casino
license for Japan is seen as the main prize in global gaming, with major
operators such as Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts pledging investments of as
much as us$ 10 billion to invest in the market.
Japan is expected to become the second-biggest market in Asia after Macau in
the first year of operation, although actual estimates as to market potential
vary widely. Measures are also expected to be implemented to allay concerns
over problem gambling.
Source: GMB / AG Brief
