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Japan – Osaka needs a casino to help fund World Expo 2025

Officials in Osaka have gone public on the need for an Integrated Casino Resort to help fund the cost of hosting World Expo 2025 which have been pitched at about JPY125bn (US$1.1bn).

The reward would be a casino on the man-made site called Yumeshima or Dream island in the Japanese city of Osaka, a large port city and commercial centre on the Japanese island of Honshu. The local government will fund 33 per cent of the total of the total cost and wants a casino group to fund another third as any casino would be built at the same location. The casino group might also have to fund costs for a subway link to from Yumeshima Island to the city at an estimated cost of US$641m.

Eleven international casino operators are believed to be interested in developing an Integrated Resort in Osaka according to prefectural records. Melco Resorts has its sights firmly set on Osaka and has sponsored several events and donated money to a natural disaster preparation cause. Last year, Lawrence Ho, the owner of Melco Resorts went public saying he’d prefer to build a casino in Osaka rather than Tokyo.

Melco Japan의 시라오가와 아코(Ako Shiraogawa) 사장은 “우리는 필요한 투자를 할 것입니다. 가혹한 조건이 가해지고, 세계에서 가장 엄격한 규제가 내려지더라도. 우리는 첫날부터 해왔던 일을 일본에서 수행하고, 현지 파트너와 함께 구축하고, 세계 최초의 뛰어난 건축 및 디자인에 투자하고, 정교한 엔터테인먼트 경험을 창출할 것입니다.”

Caesars and MGM have both registered their interest.