Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING JULY 2018 10 JAPAN’S CASINO LEGISLATION has taken a giant step forward after the lower house officially passed the IR Implementation Bill on 19 June, paving the way for the nation’s first integrated resorts. The bill is now in the upper house where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will try to pass it through before the end of the current Diet session. The session was due to finish on Wednesday 20 June, however the LDP has extended the session into July in order to pass its IR bill. If successful, the door will be open for the world’s casino operators to start their campaigning in earnest for one of three initial IR licenses to be offered, with two likely to be located in major Japanese cities and one in a regional location. According to local media reports, senior members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan alongside those from five opposition parties expressed their opposition to House of Representatives Speaker Tadamori Oshima regarding any extension to the current Diet session but were told they had no legal grounds to stand on. JAPAN’S LOWER HOUSE PASSES IR IMPLEMENTATION BILL Donaco granted injunction after land owner threatens lease termination Donaco International Limited has been granted a new injunction against the three vendors of its Star Vegas business in Poipet, Cambodia – who also own the land upon which the border-zone casino resort sits – after they threatened to terminate Donaco’s 50-year lease. In an update on the company’s ongoing legal battle, Donaco revealed that the