Japan to Disclose IR Plan Soon; Implementation Could be Postponed

Japan’s Integrated Resort (IR) plan has been experiencing many delays which postponed the whole process of introducing it to the public as well as its implementation. After all these troubles, the government has finally prepared the Basic Policy which will serve as a framework for the construction of the long-anticipated project.

The most recent update claims that the Basic Policy should be prepared by July 26. What comes after that point is still a puzzle and implementation of the same instrument could be prolonged until next year.

What Is Expected

According to the opinion of Bay City Ventures managing director, Joji Kokuryo:

“The submission period for IR implementation plans to the Central Government by local governments and their IR partners runs from 4 January 2021 to 30 July 2021. This clear deadline affects every single timeline. If there are to be changes, it is much more likely that the July 2021 deadline is moved than the 26 July 2020 date, as the latter would involve revising the IR Implementation Law.”

The Basic Policy is the casino plans. Meeting the deadline is crucial to prevent further delays.

Kokuryo explained:

“The four candidate local governments [Osaka, Yokohama, Nagasaki, and Wakayama] have been moving around their schedules for a variety of reasons, however the one constant has always been to have their IR business partner decided in Autumn 2020. This is a simple back calculation from the 30 July 2021 deadline, because there must be sufficient time to openly discuss and create a sound business plan for their application to the Central Government.”

He also mentioned that local governments have about two or three months after receiving proposals to choose IR partners and around seven months to complete an IR business plan with their partners. At the present moment, it seems to be a huge challenge.

Source:

“Japan’s IR plan to be released soon, an implementation may be delayed”, Erik Gibbs, calvinayre.com, May 5, 2020.