The Japanese government is pondering the?extension period for proposals of IR developments in the country

The Nagasaki Prefectural Government has told its prefectural assembly that the national timeline, which is?the period during which local governments could deliver their IR proposals?will likely be delayed by 6-12 months.?

Japan’s Current Corp, a Japan unit of Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH and Hong Kong-listed?Oshidori?International Holdings Ltd are the three companies?participating in?Nagasaki prefecture’s request-for-concept (RFC) process for an IR scheme and were?initially?due to?submit their applications to the central government on January-July of?2021.?

However,?the licensing application period?will be pushed back?to late?2021 or the first half of 2022 due to the delay that is caused by?the repeated failure?of the local government to issue the final version of the IR Basic Plan in apart from the Covid-19 pandemic.?

In late December, Nagasaki prefecture indicated in a draft?that it was looking for an IR?investment to?a maximum of about JPY550 billion?(US$5 billion)?and?has earmarked land?on?a?circa 31-hectare (76.6-acre) site at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Sasebo?city, and has yet to be approved by?Japan’s central government.?

The Nagasaki authorities?further added,?according to a survey conducted by the prefecture among casino operators, a large majority of the businesses contacted supported Nagasaki’s decision to pause its request-for-proposal (RFP) process for a tilt at hosting a casino resort.?

The new prime minister,?Yoshihide?Suga?has been closely involved with Japan’s IR legislation and policy making and expressed publicly that he intends to push the process forward.?

During Monday’s meeting Nagasaki prefecture also announced their intention of?setting up a body to develop measures to tackle potential social issues namely related with gambling?addiction, safety and security?arising from the opening of a?casino resort in the prefecture.?

SiGMA?Calendar:??

SiGMA?Americas and AIBC Digital Summit were launched with great success in the past week, pushing the shifting grounds of the gaming industry towards?LatAm?and discussing the current developments in?digitalisation.?In a first for?SiGMA, both the gaming and the tech segments of the conference were offered?in?3 languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese.???

SiGMA?will launch its next series of events in 2021, with?SiGMA Europe?headlining next year’s calendar. Inaugural summits in Asia and Americas are also set to dominate the year, with?SiGMA Asia?launching in May 2021 and?SiGMA Africa?in 2022! Explore the full agenda?here?and?register now!?