Akaba was speaking at a question-and-answer session of the budget committee of Japan’s House of Representatives, according to GGRAsia’s Japan correspondent.
Under a draft plan previously announced by the Japanese national government, local governments would have from January to July in 2021 to apply for the right to host a casino resort, or integrated resort (IR) as large-scale tourism complexes with casinos are known in Japan. Up to three will be permitted in a first phase of liberalisation.
Speaking to members of the House of Representatives, Akaba said that as of now the national government believed it was still feasible to maintain the original draft schedule for local governments to submit their bids for a tilt at hosting a casino scheme. That was despite the national government having declared the state of emergency in several of the country’s prefectures, as part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Starting on April 8, seven prefectures in Japan have entered a state of emergency for a month. Japan had just over 7,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection as of noon on Monday, according to data from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
In his remarks, Akaba said the national government was in contact with a number of prefecture- and city-level governments regarding their respective plans to host a casino resort, and how the coronavirus crisis was impacting IR-related works. Officials from the national government had contacted representatives from respectively Osaka, Yokohama, Wakayama, Nagasaki, Tokyo and Nagoya, he reportedly added.
After choosing a private-sector partner, aspiring local governments will need to apply to the central authorities for the right to host one of the country’s first IRs.
Source: GGR Asia
