With the pandemic and change in leadership, Japan may not have focused very firmly on the Integrated Resorts in the last few months. However, the IR projects are moving both at the regional and national levels. The new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has confirmed that the local governments are trying to garner enough support for submitting a bid.
The Nagasaki prefecture is however receiving good support. It is expected to be one of the first three IRs to be approved.
The local leaders have formed the Kyushu IR promotion Council to narrate how the region would appear after the IR industry.
Kyushu is the third-largest island in Japan and has seven prefectures including Nagasaki. The governors of the prefectures’ are part of the Kyushu Governors’ Association (KGA) and Kyushu Regional Strategy Council (KRSC). The aim of the councils to get support for IR. The local economy and businesses are expected to be benefitted from the IR industry, should the region be approved.
A statement said that the new groups would help to create business opportunities and promote local procurement with network strategies.
These groups would include people who represent economic organizations, local government, and councils of Nagasaki prefecture and the Kyushu region.
If approved, Nagasaki has already identified a 76.6-acre site for the proposed IR close to the Huis Ten Bosch Theme Park. This would also ensure high international tourism.
KGA is comprised of the governors of Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki Oita, and Saga, Yamaguchi prefecture on Honshu Island, and of Okinawa. KRSC is a group for the business initiative in the region and working with the governors for commercial activities. Both groups have actively supported the IR.
The National Government has not pulled out of the plan despite pandemic, bribery scandals, and local resistance. All the applications are to be submitted by April 28 next year.