After at the end of the previous week the prefecture of Nagasaki announced the three candidates to operate an integrated casino resort that have been chosen to progress in the process.
As revealed by the Nagasaki authorities at the time, Casinos Austria International Japan, Oshidori International Holdings Ltd, and the Niki Chau Fwu (Parkview) Group were the 3 private-sector companies that have been approved for the next phase of the prefecture’s partner selection procedure as part of the casino resort application process.
The contenders that were not selected to get involved in the next stage of the process are One Kyushu and Current Group.
The official announcement was made on March 19th by the prefectural government of Nagasaki after the result of the review executed by the Government was revealed by Nagasaki governor Hodo Nakamura. The aforementioned entities were the three chosen ones among the five commercial companies that have taken part in the request-for-proposal (RFP) phase regarding the possible establishment of an integrated casino resort in the prefecture.
Following the announcement, all three chosen contenders have confirmed for Inside Asian Gaming they are still interested in pursuing an operating license for a Nagasaki casino resort.
Three Out of Five Contenders Approved by Nagasaki Prefectural Authorities
For the time being, Casinos Austria operates 26 casino venues in twelve countries across the world. The President and CEO of the Japanese arm of the operator, Akio Hayashi, said that his company is willing to distinguish itself as the most convincing partner not only for the region but also for Japan.
The other candidate, Oshidori International Development, recently joined forces with Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment to make the bid. An official partner contract with the professional soccer club V-Varen Nagasaki was inked by the consortium in February 2021, to help the contender establish a better presence in the country.
The last of the five contenders to file its application for the integrated casino resort race in Nagasaki – Niki Chau Fwu – is now among the three companies that have been left in the competition. A representative of the company has revealed for Inside Asian Gaming that they still have a lot of material to prepare for the second phase of the process and they plan to collaborate with more than 40 partner companies but refused to provide any more details.
The next phase of the process is set to involve the so-called “competitive dialogue” with possible future partners. According to local media hubs, the probity test on the private-sector companies to operate a planned integrated casino resort at the site of Sasebo city’s Huis Ten Bosch theme park is expected to take place in May.
Previously, the Nagasaki prefecture has said that IR casino project presentations will be made by the participants in August 2021. Then, the actual partner of the prefecture for the proposed casino would be chosen, so that the prefecture is able to make an official IR submission to the country’s Government by the spring of 2022. A total of three integrated casinos are set to be allowed in Japan as part of the first phase of the liberalization of the gambling industry of the country.
The authorities of the prefectures are expected to finalize their IR implementation agreements with the selected private-sector partners in 2023, with the planned casino projects set to officially start operation in the middle or the end of 2020s.
