Casino boss Kazuo Okada punts on Philippine airport modernization project

Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada is setting his sights beyond building a $2.4 billion integrated resort in the Philippines.

The casino mogul, according to his Filipino business partner Antonio Cojuangco, is planning to cement his business footprint in the Asian country through other infrastructure projects—such as a new international airport—that will put the Philippines on the global tourism map.

Cojuangco, whose All seasons Hotels & Resorts owns the land on which Okada Manila—previously known as Manila Bay Resorts—is being built, told the Philippine Star the Okada “specifically expressed his desire to bid for the international airport” when he paid a courtesy call on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

“He believes the airport is your first contact and so your airport, if well designed an efficient, people will talk about that and more tourists will come together,” Cojuangco said, according to the news outlet.