Nagasaki prefecture launched its Request for Proposal (RFP) on Thursday, including publication of recruitment guidelines for a Kyushu/Nagasaki IR operator.
Under the RFP process, the prefecture will accept applications from operators for initial screening until 28 January, and questions from participants regarding the requirements will be accepted until 15 January.
The prefecture’s planned schedule is to select and conclude a basic agreement with an operator is in summer and fall of 2021, and to secure the consent of Sasebo City regarding the facility development plan in spring 2022. The plan will then be cleared through the Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly after which the prefecture and its operator partner will apply to the national government for an area certification.
It is assumed that the national government will certify area development plans between fall and winter of 2022. Once the national government has certified an area, it intends to conclude an implementation agreement in 2023, transfer the land for construction and then open the facility in the latter half of the decade.
In selecting an operator, an examination committee comprising experts will be established to make an objective evaluation of hopeful operators and the opinions regarding the operator review and evaluation will be heard from the committee. There are eight members on the committee, chaired by Atsufumi Kikumori (Chairman of the Nagasaki Regional Policy Research Institute).
The operator selection schedule has set 1 March 2021 as the deadline for accepting preliminary screening documents and the results of the preliminary screening will be announced later in the month. The final results are scheduled for August 2021.
There are currently four known contenders for a Nagasaki IR: Oshidori International Holdings, Casinos Austria, Pixel Companyz in collaboration with Groupe Partouche, and a consortium comprising Get Nice Holdings and Current Corp. However, it has been reported that at least three more companies – comprising two from the US and one from Asia – are also planning to take part in Nagasaki’s RFP.
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