With the imminent Osaka IR bid, the city council decided on 7 March to invite two representatives from Osaka IR – the operating entity jointly established by MGM Resorts Japan and its main consortium partner ORIX – to the next city council meeting. The plan is for them to attend the meeting scheduled for 16 March.
MGM Resorts Japan will be represented by CEO Ed Bowers, while ORIX will be represented by Executive Officer Toyonori Takahashi.
Both are representative directors of Osaka IR, Osaka’s preferred partner for its IR bid. The city council committee made a collective decision to hear the operator’s thoughts after a request by an LDP group to the council.
At Yumeshima, the IR candidate site, land reform construction costs are expected to total JPY 79 billion (US$683 million), which includes JPY 36 billion (US$311 million) for soil contamination countermeasures and JPY 41 billion (US$354 million) for liquefaction countermeasures, which are expected to be borne by public funding, plus other expenses. It seems as though the LDP city council group sees this large amount as an issue and will be checking into how it was determined that this would be a burden of the city.
In February the same group submitted a proposal for a referendum regarding support for the IR bid saying the group would make a judgement based on the results, but Osaka Ishin and the Komeito majority parties opposed the referendum, shooting it down in a majority vote.
After its referendum was denied, the LDP group decided to deepen the discussion around an Osaka IR before making a judgment.
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