A Pair of Senior Officials Instated to lead the IR Casino Committee Construction in Japan

It appears that Japan is moving its integrated casino resort saga in a positive direction, after two senior officials have been appointed to lead the set up of casino istration committee that will be in charge of casino regulation, safety and probity when new market opens.

This provides a great progress of casino scene in this Asian country and puts it back on track despite what many have labeled as optimistic date projections.

In Charge of Ethics and Safety

Following delays from earlier this year, the said two executives may be just what the city of Osaka needed in order to realize its ambitions to have an operational casino complex by the time World Expo comes in 2025.

The said pair will report directly to Japan’s cabinet office…

…as they proceed with establishing the oversight authority that will enforce regulations, as well as guidelines on ethics and safety.

This duo will recruit five senior officials. Japan’s parliament will have to ratify their ascension and this could happen during legislative session this fall.

The Bigger Picture

The initial idea was for the casino istration committee to consist of 100 people and serve as an independent body separate from the cabinet office. At the beginning of July, Japan announced it would establish the first new department in 11 years, with the conversion of Tourism Agency into International Tourism Department.

It will report to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and will be in charge of choosing between candidate cities that will host one of IRs. It will also overlook the regulation design.

The country hopes to attract a higher volume of international tourists one integrated resorts become a reality…

…with the objective being 60 million inbound visitors by 2030!

When the first batch of licenses is awarded, up to three locations will be selected as hosts for the casinos. Japanese residents will be charged with $55 entrance fee for casinos and will be able to visit them a limited amount of times, while foreign visitors will be able to enter free of charge.

Facing the Crime Surge

Former Wynn Resorts executive vice president of corporate security, James Stern, has warned Japanese authorities of possible surge in criminal activity once casino resorts are opened.

In an interview he spoke of a threat that organizations such as Yakuza could pose.

“The Yakuza have changed over the years, but one thing won’t change: They’re all about the money. Tradition comes second. Imagine if a gangster was able to get control over a VIP host, they could do a significant amount of damage. There are many ways to skim money from a casino and criminals will easily figure out how to do it.”

Source:

“Japan begins setting up casino probity body”, ggrasia.com, July 10, 2019.