Osaka city has allocated a budget of JPY300 million (US$2.7 million) in its annual budget for Yumeshima, the man-made island that will be home to the 2025 World Expo and a potential IR.
The budget includes JPY136 million to Osaka prefecture for an analysis and traffic access report to formulate a basic plan for venue construction related to the Expo. The remaining JPY163 million is for costs associated with establishing an operator selection committee and problem gambling measures relating to an IR.
Certainly it is clear that local government enthusiasm toward attracting IR business is evident in those numbers. Osaka city’s initial 2019 budget plan’s general accounts have increased for the third year running by JPY1.8 trillion, a 3.3% increase on 2018.
Wakayama prefecture is not far behind in its own preparations. The initial budget plan for 2019 general accounts came to a total of JPY553.1 billion, a decrease of 0.1% from 2018. Although this is the fourth year in a row that the budget has been reduced, the IR related items accounted for JPY231 million, indicating the effort that they are hoping to put behind their bid. Additionally, there is JPY11.2 million set aside for problem gambling measures.
The total general accounts budget plan for 2019 as announced by Nagasaki prefecture was JPY697.7 billion. This is a 0.2% increase from last year, the third year running that there has been an increase.
Provided for in this budget is JPY120 million for IR-related expenses such as public offering and selection of operators for the confirmed location of the Huis Ten Bosch theme park.
