Casinos are always seen as a way to revitalize local economies. Since last few years Japan is facing a declining population and falling tax revenues. To revitalize the local economies and increase in tax revenues, Liberal Democratic Party in Japan is drafting the legislation to legalize the casino gambling next year.
The bill will be passed by the end of next Diet session in June 2008. Few Japanese companies have the expertise necessary to develop the large-scale operations being envisioned and opening up Japan to casinos will provide big opportunities for the foreign operators.
The former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi launched the program with the aim to boost the annual visitors numbers to 10m by 2010 from 7.3m last year.
It is said that once the casinos in Japan are deregulated, it can attract interest from north China and Russia, where there has been huge economic growth. In Tokyo where there is a large population within a two-hour radius earning a lot of money, so it is anticipated that the returns will be huge.
Japan is the only advanced economy where casinos are illegal and a strong allergic reaction to gambling could be the obstacles which LDP’s plan might have to face.
To dispel negative image of gambling , Singapore adopted an approach to make casinos the entertainment complexes combining a range of facilities such as theme parks, theatres, shops, restaurants and hotels. Japan is going to adopt the same approach under the current LDP plan. Only the time will prove whether the legalization of casinos be fruitful for the economy of Japan or not.
Source: FT.Com
