Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAN 2020年1月 亞博匯 31 封面故事 offer serious challenges, and can claim significant advantages over MGM (see separate Osaka article in this issue). Osaka’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process, which began in December, is set to run to April this year, with the final operator decision planned for June. The Prefecture and City hope to open the IR in time for the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, however operators have expressed concern that the construction period is too short and will overlap with Expo construction. With the national government accepting IR certification applications only from January 2021, and making decisions on them later in 2021, getting the doors of an IR open by 2025 looks challenging, given the years of construction likely needed. Kanagawa Prefecture officially entered the race when Yokohama City Mayor Fumiko Hayashi, after years of silence on the matter, fronted the press on 22 August 2019, announcing, “Yokohama’s future is 橫濱市市長林文子在緘默多年之後，於2019年8月22日在媒 體面前宣佈：「橫濱的未來處於危機之中……我得出的結論是，為 了實現經濟的增長與發展，我們需要一個綜合度假村。」自此，神 奈川縣正式入局。 橫濱宣稱，未來該市由IR帶來的經濟漣漪效應每年可能高達 1萬億日元（92億美元），並確定位於橫濱海濱的山下碼頭為理想 的IR選地。 由於東京本身還沒有正式參與競逐，因此橫濱被環球領先的 大型IR營運商視為用來代替東京的可接受方案。橫濱是東京大都 2. YOKOHAMA CITY (KANAGAWA PREFECTURE) City population: 4 million Greater Tokyo area population: 38 million Known suitors: Galaxy Entertainment Group, Genting Singapore, Las Vegas Sands, Melco Resorts and Entertainment, Sega Sammy Holdings, Wynn Resorts The one the big boys want • • • • 2.橫濱市（神奈川縣） 城市人口：400萬 首都圈人口：3800萬 已知競標者：銀河娛樂集團、雲頂新加坡、拉斯維加斯金沙 集團、新濠博亞娛樂、世嘉颯美控股、永利渡假村 群雄逐鹿 • • • • Yokohama City Mayor Fumiko Hayashi. 橫濱市市長林文子。