Shortly after Osaka city revealed its budget plans for 2019, Osaka Prefecture has done the same with this year’s budget increasing for the first time in four years to JPY2.60 trillion.
Of particular note is that this is the first budget plan to include the Osaka-Kansai Expo to be held in Yumeshima in 2025.
The construction costs of the venue will be JPY125 billion (US$1.13 billion) to be shared equally by the national government, the business world and the local government.
This is the first time that the prefecture/city has accounted for JPY271 million, which will be paid to the Japan Association for the World Exposition. There will also be a full review of the venue plan.
The owner, Osaka city, takes basic responsibility for the infrastructure development of Yumeshima, with the city announcing that from 2019 it would invest JPY93 billion over six years for these costs.
The main items, apart from the JPY54.1 billion for subway extension costs from Sakishima, are JPY13.6 billion for land-filling at the expo site and water supply/sewerage facilities at JPY13.2 billion.
Looking at IR related expenses, of interest is the JPY330.27 million for promoting the IR in the city and prefecture, which is 3.7 times more than last year.
Furthermore, there is JPY2.15 million set aside for the expenses of a third party committee of experts for selecting an operator and JPY32 million for the public offering itself. The budget for problem gambling measures has also doubled from last year to JPY12.13 million.