The Chief of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives, Hiroyuki Ikeda, revealed in a recent interview for the media that the local business community will do whatever it takes to make the Osaka Prefecture home of a casino resort.
According to Mr. Ikeda, the new integrated casino resort is expected to attract massive investments estimated at trillions of yen and would create a large number of jobs in the region, which would be beneficial for the local economy. Mr. Ikeda who is a deputy chairman of Resona Bank said that things were certainly moving in the right direction, so now the authorities had to take measures to help further growth in the region.
The prefectural and city governments of Osaka have demonstrated their willingness to get a permission to build an integrated casino resort after a piece of legislation under which casino gambling is to be legalized in the country is enacted and comes into effect. Local authorities have explained that an integrated casino resort would most likely play an important part in the future and further development of the Kansai region, including the western Japan prefecture and city.
Integrated Casino Resort to Make Japan “Tourist-Oriented”
As far as casino gambling expansion is concerned, yesterday Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that opening the local gambling market to casino resorts would help Japan become a more “tourist-oriented” country. Mr. Abe spoke to a plenary gathering of the lower chamber of the Parliament, the House of Representatives, as he took part in a discussion of the Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill. He then explained that the implementation of the afore-mentioned bill could help Japan attract tourists from all over the world and make them stay longer in the country.
The Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill is the new piece of legislation which is to set the expansion of the regulatory framework aimed at the establishment of the casino industry in Japan.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the bill was submitted to the Parliament of Japan in April. According to estimates given by Mr. Abe, the local Government expects the casino gambling regulatory framework to be officially passed over the current Diet session which is set to close on June 20th.
The Government would also have to consider and roll out certain measures to address concerns in regards to tackling problem gambling behaviour in order to minimise possible gambling-related harm on society, including an increased number of gambling addicts.
It was earlier announced that a total of three casino licenses would be granted in Japan, with their number set to be reviewed in a few years. A number of locations are being considered as homes for integrated casino resorts as part of the next phase of the casino gambling development process in the country.
- Author
Daniel Williams
