Three weeks after joining the race for one of the three casino licenses being made available in Japan and the city of Yokohama has reportedly announced that it will be hosting a special event for local firms interested in partnering with the prospective operators of these facilities.

Possible partnerships:

According to a report from GGRAsia, the gathering is being organized by the Japan Integrated Resort Expo Yokohama Executive Committee and will take place from January 29 to 30 inside the city’s Pacific Convention Plaza Yokohama. The one-off event is purportedly part of an effort to help potential international casino operators connect with local firms before submitting their final plans to Yokohama selectors.

Reportedly read a press release concerning the event…

“We have decided to hold an exhibition that brings together products and services indispensable for Japanese integrated resorts in response to the growing demand for trade fairs from the business world. This is an industrial trade fair specializing in integrated resorts that will be held for the first time in the Tokyo metropolitan area following Osaka, held in May of 2019, and Hokkaido, to be held in December of 2019.”

Site selected:

GGRAsia reported that Yokohama is home to some 3.7 million people and its official proposal is to likely see it ask for permission to build an integrated casino resort on a 116-acre waterfront parcel of land near Yamashita Park overlooking Tokyo Bay. This location sits only about 22 miles from downtown Tokyo and a casino on the plot would be designed to help the city increase its attractiveness to both foreign and domestic tourists.

Initial conditions:

In related news and GGRAsia reported that the government of Japan has officially released its draft basic policies concerning the minimum requirements for all of those locations hoping to win one of the trio of casino licenses. Would-be host communities are to be required to ally with private-sector partners via a bespoke scheme before formally submitting their plans to Tokyo.

In order to be selected by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in partnership with the Japan Tourism Agency, the draft policies now mandate that successful candidates must have shown that their proposed schemes and sites are internationally competitive, able to host large-scale conferences and easily accessible to major Japanese cities and locations abroad.