Australian casino operators lobbying hard in Japan

In Japan, a host of foreign gaming operators are allegedly going all out in hopes of procuring one of the three casino licenses that are going to be made available after past month’s ratification of the Integrated Resort Implementation Bill.

Osaka considered prime candidate:

Based on a Monday report from the Reuters news service, the city of Osaka is being seen as a prime place for one of those forthcoming integrated casino resorts as a result of strong local political support, a supportive business community along with also the availability of a large website. After recently viewing its economic arts fade in regard to Tokyo, the metropolis of some 2.7 million individuals is expecting that such a large facility could help it to boost tourism and earn much-needed money.

Osaka is keen on the idea of finding an integrated casino resort on Yumeshima Island, which was built in the 1970s in the southern city’s dockyard regions were teeming with grim jobs involved with the creation of boats and chemicals. The intervening years have seen the majority of these industries go overseas with city leaders now expecting to bring a gaming venue to the island from 2024.

Governor for Osaka Prefecture, Ichiro Matsui, to Reuters…

“I wish to properly nurture the tourism industry in Osaka as one of its pillars. It’s natural that we need to be fully open and be sure that citizens have no doubts regarding unfairness or corruption. There’s no doubt a great deal of money is going to be involved and that it’s going to be a significant enterprise.

Therefore, Reuters noted that Osaka officials were meeting with a host of foreign casino operators in advance of picking one to conduct its proposed gaming venue and building a licensing pitch to central authorities. In hopes of currying favor, executives from some eleven gaming firms have fulfilled Matsui 25 times over the course of the 77 months as January of 2012.

Additionally, the news service reported that officials from Matsui’s workplace have had nearly 120 similar experiences with such foreign firms since May of this past year with Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited, MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands Corporation considered front-runners. This is due to recent declarations from every that they would be prepared to invest at least $10 billion to bring an integrated casino resort to a 173-acre section of the aforementioned island in Osaka Bay.

“Tokyo hasn’t raised its hand [and] Yokohama hasn’t raised its hand. Osaka has increased its hand.

Annual Osaka casino revenues can hit $4 billion:

Reuters noted that Galaxy Entertainment Group, Caesars Entertainment Corporation and Genting Singapore Limited are also among the foreign exchange firms vying for the best to run the proposed Osaka place, which financial services company Morgan Stanley predicted could generate annual revenues of up to $4 billion.