Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture extends deadline for IR casino partner
Operator selection has been pushed back from November 2020 to January 2021
On Monday, The?Wakayama prefecture announced?that due to the?coronavirus?pandemic,?the?deadline?of submission of the?Request for Proposal (RFP)?has been extended?from?31 August to 19 October of 2020?– the material required to secure plans to build and operate an IR resort in the prefecture –?to be submitted by the?two operators.?
The prefecture?declared?Hong Kong’s?Suncity?Group and Canadian IR investment firm?Clairvest?Group?as?the two suitors for the?Wakayama?IR casino license?on the first week of May, and?now?has?pushed back the?operator selection from November 2020 to January 2021.?Still,?the?prefecture is eager to?open the?IR by 2025. Read more about it here.
Bay City Ventures Managing Director,?Joji?Kokuryo,?beleives that Wakayama pushing back their RFP submission period gives the prefecture and the RFP participants much needed time for competitive dialogue.
Bay City Ventures Managing Director,?Joji?Kokuryo,?told?Casino.org, “Wakayama pushing back their RFP (request for proposal) submission period gives the prefecture and the RFP participants much needed time for competitive dialogue.” ?
Joji?Kokuryo?serves?an advisor to the Gaming?Standards Association of Japan and has worked?in other leading IR markets,?with?Macau and Manila’s Entertainment City?included.?
“Operators will benefit by having more time to prepare their consortium and bids to the prefecture. The January selection of the IR partner is, for sure, the latest that the Wakayama prefecture and their eventual IR partner can go in terms of creating a sound business plan to meet the central government’s July 2021 deadline,”?Kokuryo?added.?
Wakayama is one of four locations openly in the running to develop one of three integrated resorts nationwide.?MGM Resorts, along with its partner?Orix, remains the only company to have submitted a bid to develop an Osaka integrated resort. Five?companies remain in the race for Yokohama (Galaxy Entertainment Group,?Genting Singapore, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Sega Sammy and Wynn Resorts), and three for Nagasaki (Casinos Austria, Current Corp and?Oshidori).?All?of which?have now confirmed delays to their schedules.?
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Bay City Ventures Managing Director,?Joji?Kokuryo,?beleives that Wakayama pushing back their RFP submission period gives the prefecture and the RFP participants much needed time for competitive dialogue.
