Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JAN 2020 10 HOKKAIDO WITHDRAWS FROM JAPAN IR RACE GOVERNOR Naomichi Suzuki has announced that Hokkaido has shelved its bid to develop an integrated resort. Despite strong support from local business groups, the Governor pulled the plug in early December due, he said, to environmental concerns, including the recent revelation that an environmental assessment could take up to three years. Addressing the Hokkaido assembly, Suzuki stated, “As a result of careful consideration, I had reached the conclusion that I would like to give an IR bid a shot, however the candidate site is likely to be a habitat of rare animals and plants, and the appropriate environmental considerations would be impossible in the restricted schedule.” The city council of the preferred site of Tomakomai had passed a resolution in October to promote a bid. Further, various Hokkaido financial groups, including the Hokkaido Economic Federation, submitted an extraordinary joint declaration urging an IR bid. But the Hokkaido Assembly’s largest caucus, the Liberal Democratic Party, was divided and consensus could not be reached. There was also concern that the regular three-year period of environmental assessments of the site would run counter to the short schedule. EUROPEAN ONLINE GAMBLING INDUSTRY TO FEEL PRESSURE FROM CHINA IN 2020 CHINA ’s fight against online gambling in Asia could soon see the economic powerhouse assert similar pressure in Europe, potentially stifling growth in the continent’s iGaming industry. The potential threat was flagged by Paul Leyland, Partner at strategic consultancy firm Regulus Partners, during a keynote speech at the recent KPMG Gaming eSummit in Malta, attended by IAG . Discussing the outlook for the global online gaming industry in 2020 following a challenging 2019 hampered by regulatory roadblocks and political intervention, Leyland pointed to China as a worrying wildcard for iGaming operators over the next 12 months. “One of the things we think we’re going to see from a geopolitical standpoint – and we’re already seeing the noises coming through – is China really not liking online gambling,” he said. “The online industry hasn’t tended to notice what China has been doing because it doesn’t disrupt the online environments we’re focused on. “But we’re seeing a huge channel shift in Asian markets away from land-based points of payment to direct online. The Chinese government has noticed that, doesn’t like it and is already putting a huge amount of pressure on the Philippines. “This is a level of pressure that China can exert pretty much globally and if you asked any politician anywhere in the world what do you like more, online gambling or China, it’s a really easy choice for them to make. “So we think that geopolitical tension around China is going to keep bubbling up and will have some really interesting implications for the industry that we probably haven’t properly thought through yet.”