Suga signals intention to move forward with IR development

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the prohibitive favorite to become Japan’s prime minister later this month, has signaled his intention to move forward with IR development.

“I think that IRs are indispensable for our tourism promotion efforts,” Suga told a program on TV Kanagawa, “Although people tend to focus only on the casinos, the government intends to promote IRs as places with various facilities and hotels where families can come and stay during international conferences.”

Suga did not go into details such as the development timeline.

Support for IR development is the majority position among the ruling party lawmakers who are voting for their next leader, but the general public has consistently polled as opposing casino legalization.

Suga will face two opponents in the ruling party leadership race, but a majority of the lawmakers have already pledged to vote for him.

Latest Intelligence

Latest issue

PATA CEO sees slow recovery, but optimism for future

AGB Podcasts