Promising to address public concerns about the social ills associated with gambling, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicked off the inaugural meeting Tuesday of a government task force that will make recommendations on licensing and operating integrated resorts (IR) with casinos.
"The world's highest standards of casino regulations will be introduced, and policies to deal with issues like gambling addiction will be addressed," Abe said during the meeting. "This will create clean, Japanese-style integrated resorts."
In the coming months, the task force will bring together lawyers, accountants, economists and political analysts to discuss licensing and operating issues, as well as financial and tax issues.