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Japan Legalizes Casinos and Opens Doors for Big Hotel Projects
The parliament of Japan has finally legalized casinos in the country, thus ending a 15 years long dispute. This decision finally opens the door for big investors that are ready to open large-scale projects that combine casinos, hotels, retail space and more.
According to the research published by Daiwa Research Institute, mere three casinos could generate profit of almost US$10 billion every year – the sum equivalent to 0.2% of gross domestic product of the country. However, that will not happen anytime soon as large casinos are expected to be in full operation in 2022 or 2023. The decision is made, but it will take over a year to prepare the law and set all details such as taxes, aspects of regulation and possible problems like gambling addiction and organized crime.
The majority of large gambling companies are very interested in investing into casinos in Japan. Wynn Resorts Ltd, Caesars Entertainment Corp and MGM Resorts International might battle to get operation rights in the country. For example, MGM expressed their will to invest US$10 billion into a casino in Japan. There are also Japanese companies that will try to participate, such as game machine producer Konami Holdings Corp and Japan Cash Machine Co Ltd that manufactures money counting machines.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe is sure the decision to legalize casinos will stimulate economy and tourism, but some lawmakers are not so positive about the decision and think it may be used in money laundering, and gambling addiction might become a nationwide illness. A recent survey by NHK shows that only 12% of Japanese support casinos, while 44% are against the new law. It’s also not yet known what cities will get casino resorts, but Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka are named among the runners.
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