The city of Osaka in Japan wants to host the 2025 World Expo. Las Vegas Sands (LVS) wants a casino in Japan. In order to promote its cause, without promoting its cause, LVS and owner Sheldon Adelson have put their support behind Japan to try and help it win the bid. Sands joins a short list of other casinos that have shown their support for Japan, all of which, coincidentally, are interested in securing a gaming license in the country once the government finalizes the legislation on integrated resorts.
LVS stepped up to back Japan in March, but did so with little chest-thumping. When Asia Gaming Brief spoke with the company’s managing director of global development, George Tanasijevich, he told the media outlet, “Osaka is a special business city where its long history and rich culture exist alongside technologically-sophisticated companies and warm, dynamic local people. The 2025 World Expo is an opportunity for Osaka to highlight these qualities and enhance its importance as a global city and destination.
“Las Vegas Sands is proud to be an Official Partner of Osaka’s 2025 World Expo bid. We wish Osaka the best as it gears up for the final stages of the bid, and look forward to contributing to the city’s successful holding of the 2015 World Expo if it wins the bid.”
In October, Melco Resorts became the first to decide to back Japan in its quest. It was followed by Caesars, Hard Rock and MGM. All of these companies have expressed interest in vying for one of three casino licenses the Japanese government will issue once casinos are authorized in the country.
Japan is one of three countries that are currently hoping to host the expo. The other two are Russia, which has selected Ekaterinburg as the location if chosen, and Azerbaijan, expected to put the expo in Baku. France had previously submitted a bid but withdrew in January.
The World Expo is held every five years and, according to the website of the Bureau International des Expositions (International Expositions Bureau, BIE), the organization that has led the expo since its inception in 1928, is “designed to raise awareness of and find responses to universal challenges of our time.” The next expo will be held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
The winning bid for the World Expo 2025 will be selected by the 170 member states of the BIE when it holds its 164th General Assembly in November.
