A Japanese integrated resort built by Melco Resorts and Entertainment would be among “the top 10 greatest places in the world,” according to Melco’s Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho.
Addressing an audience of 600 people during a keynote speech at the Nikkei Integrated Resort Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday, Ho reaffirmed his love affair with Japan, calling it the “coolest place on earth” and noting that he had now visited the country more than 300 times, having first stepped foot on Japanese soil at the age of five.
The Melco boss has long stated his willingness to spend over US$10 billion on developing an IR in Japan, commenting as recently as June that, “We have invested more than US$10 billion in Macau already and in order to build beyond Macau, beyond Las Vegas, it would be more than that.”
Ho has also expressed his desire for the company’s Japan IR to transform the casino industry by incorporating new technologies such as artificial intelligence should it win one of three casino licenses on offer.
“Japan, for me, really is whatever it takes. We’ll go all in,” he told Inside Asian Gaming in an interview last year.