Osaka to Delay Casino Resort Opening to Autumn 2030

Osaka, Sept. 5 (Jiji Press)--The governments of Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka in western Japan said Tuesday that they will delay the opening of a planned casino resort to around autumn 2030. When the local governments submitted their development plan to the central government in April 2022, the resort was scheduled to open around autumn and winter 2029. The delay is because the plan did not win central government approval until April this year. The Osaka governments also said that the amount of initial investment will increase to 1.27 trillion yen from the previously planned 1.08 trillion yen due to soaring construction material prices. Once the revised plan receives central government approval, the Osaka governments aim to sign a contract with the operator of the casino resort as early as this month. A company led by U.S. casino giant MGM Resorts International and Japan's Orix Corp. will construct and operate the resort to be built on the Yumeshima artificial island in Osaka Bay. The opening of the casino resort "will be postponed for a year due to various procedures. This is an appropriate timing," Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura told reporters. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference in Tokyo that the central government hopes that the Osaka prefectural and city governments will continue to work closely together to achieve an early opening of the casino resort. END