In Japan and the government for Nagasaki Prefecture has reportedly announced that Thursday will see it launch the initial request for concept (RFC) phase of its plan to win the right to host one of the nation’s trio of coming integrated casino resorts.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Kyushu community is hoping to be granted one of the nation’s three soon-to-be-available casino licenses so that it may construct a Las Vegas-style gambling facility on a 74-acre site adjacent to the Huis Ten Bosch theme park. Backers purportedly want this envisioned venue near the small city of Sasebo to eventually also feature multiple hotels and restaurants as well as substantial conference and exhibition facilities in hopes that it will be able to improve the local economy by attracting more tourists.

Compound contenders:

However, the proposal from Nagasaki Prefecture is likely set to face stiff competition from up to ten other runners including the larger cities of Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo with every one of these hopefuls being obliged to team up with at least one private-sector operator in advance of handing over their finished plans to a panel of federal selectors.

Protracted process:

GGRAsia reported that Nagasaki Prefecture intends to initiate the RFC phase of its integrated casino resort campaign from October 3 and give potential foreign firms up to seven weeks in which to express an interest in helping to build and run the planned facility. These possible partners are then to have until January 10 to hand over their proposals concerning what the eventual finished development will feature alongside specific business and anti-problem gambling policies.

Relaxed requirement:

Although the Prefecture reportedly explained that it has yet to decide on a schedule for the subsequent and more formal request for proposal (RFP) stage of this process, it did declare that taking part in the RFC phase ‘is not a condition for participation in the RFP.’ The Japanese community purportedly moreover pronounced that it is hoping to be able to open its envisioned integrated casino resort in 2025 and intends to conduct extensive negotiations with every one of the interested bidders before initiating the RFP chapter of its itinerary.