Bizcuits: Don’t hold your breath

Leanda Lee

The gaming industry is big in Asia – we in Macau think we know this. So coming as a shock to those in the know was the fact that Gaming in Asia was not on the agenda at any of the 68 seminars held during the preeminent global gaming conference and exhibition, G2E, in Las Vegas over the last week of September. The one exception was a special panel on Gaming in Japan open only to the press. This was to be an opportunity for the gentlemen and ladies of the media to probe into the developments in Japan. The only probing questions asked were by those Asia-based members of the press already in the know and one or two others who obviously had very little understanding of gaming in Asia.
Although under the radar at G2E, Japan is believed to be the next big thing after Macau. There are those who say that very little seems to be happening in Japan at the moment and that we’ve heard the same rhetoric for at least the last nine years.  And then there are those who are adamant that we will see the gaming legalisation in Japan passed into law next month, or at least before the end of November or December; that it’s real this time. We heard the exact same thing last year which I conveyed in MDT’s gaming alert on Sept 27, 2013 – that the Diet would deliberate over the casino bill before the end of 2013, or a number of casino activists and lobbyists would lose their credibility. No wonder much has gone quiet.
What is suggested and what the majority of the panel of distinguished casino industry speakers who have been actively pursing developments and opportunities in Japan are saying is that even though the investors are exasperated, it feels different this time. Jan Jones Blackhurst, Executive Vice President, Communications & Government Relations, Caesars Entertainment Corporation and who held two terms as Mayor of the City of Las Vegas, advised that Caesars has been watching Japan for ten years and it’s the closest that Japan has come. The devil is certainly in the regulation and Japan will take it’s time to develop this prudently particularly given the heightened awareness and concern for problem gambling. Although Jones Blackhurst is optimistic that moves will be made shortly, Tokyo’s focus has now moved to the 2020 Olympics.
Although pundits are starting to get edgy about Japan, there is no particular timeframe to get all the pieces into place. Alan Feldman, Executive Vice President at MGM Resorts International, whose brief encompasses government relations, policy developments and Corporate Social Responsibility, cautions that every jurisdiction is different. It’s about the confluence of political need and political will before a discussion can be had to introduce a gaming industry into the economy. That political will exists in Japan at the moment as there is a need for foreign investment, to increase the number of tourists and to drive the service economy. The question still exists, however, as to whether gaming is the right tool to achieve these outcomes.
So, the first gaming promotion bill is about exploration. It’s a study bill. It sets the stage to have the discussions. How many casinos? Where? Private, public? What will partnerships look like? Feldman senses a momentum about the study bill now. Japan seems ready to take that next step, to move into a period of profound study into all of the issues. It’s going to take a while. And knowing Japanese institutional penchant for detail, the research, dialogue and discussion will be thorough, broad and there will be a keenness to interact and learn from as many of the players as possible, including potential investors and partners such as Caesars and MGM. Policy matters have already been on the agenda of such meetings but the process and mechanism for ongoing dialogue which will contribute to drafting the gaming regulations is still a long way off. So, until this time next year, then.