Osaka’s proposed integrated resort likely to get green-light

The proposed integrated resort development plan, amounting to the tune of US$9 billion, submitted by Osaka city and prefecture, is expected to be approved by Japan’s central government.

The consortium responsible for the development is led by MGM Resorts and its local partner Orix, with the project set to launch the first Japanese casino.

The central government is expected this month to approve the integrated resort plan, which will be located on Yumeshima Island. The development comes in the shadows of Nagasaki’s IR selection process that was considered controversial by many.

Currently, the government is mulling over how to respond to Nagasaki prefecture’s plan and may determine that further review is necessary.

The selection process in Nagasaki was surrounded by controversy as both Oshidori International Development and NIKI Chyau Fwu (Parkview) Group, the unsuccessful candidates at the selection, claimed that Nagasaki officials urged them to withdraw their bids, or otherwise probity concerns revealed by the prefecture would be made public.

The decision to choose Casinos Austria as the preferred partner has also been met with skepticism due to its past controversies in Europe and the fact that it has little experience operating large-scale integrated resorts.

Despite the uncertain future of Nagasaki’s integrated resort project, the prefecture is committed to investing approximately $3.2 billion into the project.