Will Las Vegas Sands be one of the licensed operators in Osaka

Osaki Governor Ichiro Matsui announced that Osaka officials are planning to start selecting potential private sector partners to jointly apply for a casino resort to Japanese central authorities.

"We will select candidates, evaluating their plans and willingness to invest early next year," - quoted the Japanese news agency (Kyodo).

Osaka’s Governor comments were made after a meeting with the president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. (American casino operator), Robert Goldstein. Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura also attended the meeting.

Osaka is constantly announcing support for hosting integrated resorts. As part of the first wave of liberalization of gambling in the country, up to three casino resorts will be allowed.

By July 2019, the Japanese government will announce a procedural framework under which local authorities will begin submitting bids to national authorities.

In Osaka, the government sees gambling as a way to stimulate the local economy by taxing, creating jobs and infrastructure, as well as expanding inbound tourism. The resort casino will likely be located on an artificial island called Yumeshima (translated as ‘dream island’).

According to forecasts of the Morgan Stanley banking group, the casino in Osaka will have to bring in $4 billion a year to provide 14% of annual investment income.

Some analysts consider Las Vegas Sands to be the leading player in obtaining one of the licenses for the construction and development of casinos in Japan. Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of the company, said in July that his company was “looking forward to” the implementation of projects in Japan.

Las Vegas Sands already operates several casinos in Asian jurisdictions, namely Macau and Singapore.