Yokohama Mayor, Fumiko Hayashi, has warned of likely further delays to the release of the city’s IR implementation policy, stating at a press conference on Wednesday, “It will be difficult to make our announcement in August as scheduled.”
The implementation policy, already postponed once this year due to COVID-19, will define the criteria for an integrated resort in Yokohama.
According to The Nikkei, this latest delay is a result of the central government having yet to release the long-awaited Basic Policy.
When asked if the city’s submission to the central government, due to take place between January and July 2021, would still be possible, Hayashi said, “We will assess once the Basic Policy has been published.“
The central government has postponed publication of its Basic Policy, which establishes criteria for selecting an operator, from its originally scheduled date of January this year and as yet there has been no confirmed date for its release. There has, however, been some suggestion that the application period may itself be delayed.
Mayor Hayashi stated, “We cannot publish an implementation policy before the central government’s Basic Policy … we will keep an eye on the situation.”
In April, Yokohama postponed its implementation policy announcement from June to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic.