Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2019年6月 亞博匯 34 JAPAN “It is impossible to open before 2025. The reason is not that Osaka isn’t doing everything it can but there are several regulatory processes that need to be signed before they can even start, so time is very much against them.” – Praveen Choudhary 「2025年之前並無開業（綜合度假村的）可能性。 並非大阪沒有盡其所能，而是有多個監管程序都 需要在項目啟動前先獲得簽字批准，所以他們很 大程度上受到了時間的限制。」 – Praveen Choudhary O n 22 May, Japan’s national government announced it was postponing the publication of its fundamental policy on the establishment of integrated resorts until after the summer upper house election. The news didn’t come as a complete surprise, with strong whispers of such a delay having done the rounds at the Japan Gaming Congress (JgC) in Tokyo just a few weeks earlier. However, it did confirm what many had feared – the road to develop Japan’s first IRs is still littered with potholes. Also delayed is the establishment of Japan’s casino regulatory body, the Casino Administration Committee, which had originally been set for 1 July 2019 but will now have to wait until the autumn extraordinary Diet session, running from September to December. All of which puts the long-held consensus that Japan will welcome its first IRs by 2025 in serious doubt, not to