Global Gaming Expo has lined up an A-list of Japanese and international gaming stakeholders behind the launch of G2E Japan should casino enabling legislation pass this year in Asia’s most eagerly anticipated new market.
The American Gaming Association, the US industry’s federal lobbying arm, and Reed Exhibitions, organizers of the G2E trade shows in Las Vegas and Macau, will produce the conference in partnership with Las Vegas-based investment brokers Union Gaming, which sponsored a successful industry symposium in Tokyo in September.
“Our decades of experience in industry regulation, operations and responsible gaming can be of enormous value to the Japanese as they consider building what could be one of the world’s most significant gaming markets,” said AGA President Geoff Freeman.
Bill Lerner, a founder and principal of Union Gaming, said he was “honored” to join with G2E on the conference. “Gathering industry leaders together in Japan is more important now than ever before,” he said. “Our goal is to create an annual event that advances the industry’s interest and builds on that success year after year.”
A new Japan Gaming Association has been set up to guide program development through a G2E Japan Conference Advisory Board led by Bo Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prominent Japanese gaming companies JCM Global and Konami are on board, together with advertising and public relations company Dentsu. Support is also being provided by leading international suppliers of the likes of Aristocrat Leisure, Bally Technologies, International Game Technology, Gaming Partners International, Interblock and WMS Gaming.
Members of the advisory board include: Jan Jones Blackhurst, executive vice president of communications and government relations at Caesars Entertainment; F. Steven DiMasi, vice president of global government relations and public affairs at IGT; Alan Feldman, executive vice president of global government and industry affairs at MGM Resorts International; JCM Global President Akiyoshi Isoi; Tom Jingoli, senior vice president and chief compliance officer of Konami Gaming; Takashi Kiso, CEO of the International Casino Institute; NagaCorp Chairman Timothy McNally; Toru Mihara, general manager of the project engineering division at Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute; and Christine Reilly, senior research director at the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Responsible Gaming.
Dates have already been set for a rival show produced by UK-based Clarion Events, organizers of Europe’s premier industry gathering, ICE Totally Gaming, which is held annually in London, and major conferences in Europe and North America focused on the online and remote gambling sectors.
The inaugural Japan Gaming Congress will take place in Tokyo from 14th to 16th May and will feature Las Vegas Sands President and COO Michael Leven as a keynote speaker.
Clarion hasn’t announced an agenda yet but said, “The Japan Gaming Congress will provide delegates the opportunity to network with key government officials, operators and legal experts” who will “provide their first-hand experiences of the proposed regulatory framework, planning and entry strategies into the market.”
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