Inside Asian Gaming

SEPTEMBER 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 29 IN FOCUS Tourism will need about 12 months to establish what Mihara calls “Fundamental Policy” for the selection of sites to compete for IR licenses. “The Japanese bureaucracy has to build everything from scratch,” ReNeA Japan CEO Masa Suganuma, a longtime gaming machine executive turned consultant, says. “Establishing technical standards is one of the most important tasks the bureaucracy has to start ASAP, since it is deeply related with responsible gaming.” CAN WE TALK? “We only have one request: in developing the detailed regulations, allow for a proper period of consultation from industry experts and operators before approving specific regulations,” MGM’s Bowers says. “Providing an opportunity to operators and experts to comment on specific regulations will avoid many adverse unintended consequences in the future practice of those regulations.” “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who led the fight for IR legalization, and his cabinet can’t rest on their laurels,” Spectrum Asia CEO Paul Bromberg suggests. “What they should be doing is talking to the public. They need to explain clearly why they passed the legislation and why it will benefit the public.” The IR legislation includes funding for public outreach and Mihara says a nationwide campaign to boost grassroots approval for IRs will begin following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership ballot in September. ROLLING THE DICE Informing the public falls to the national government because many local jurisdictions and businesses remain reluctant to gamble on IR