Thailand
Vietnam: Finance Ministry proposes extending casino pilot program by two years
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has proposed the Government extend the casino pilot program until 2024 due to the impact of the pandemic and add two casinos in Da Nang City and Khanh Hoa Province to the trial list.
Specifically, the ministry suggested the Government add two casinos namely a casino business project on Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province and the another at Sun World Ba Na Hill tourist area in Da Nang City.
The two projects are expected to aid tourism development, as well as attract international visitors and financial investors.
For Sun World Ba Na Hill tourist area, the investor has invested VND16 trillion (US$695 million) in the project. There has been no large-scale casino in Da Nang City so far.
The tourism and entertainment complex with a casino on Hon Tre Island, Nha Trang City, has seen Vinpearl JSC invest VND 25.7 trillion so far, including a hotel, an amusement park, a golf course and a convention center.
The MoF reported that Vietnam houses nine operational casinos in which the Phu Quoc-based casino is piloting the program allowing Vietnamese nationals play games. The revenue minus payment costs of Phu Quoc casino is VND 3.2 trillion. Currently, the casino has lost about VND3.9 trillion.
Casino business revenue increased from VND 1,190 billion in 2017 to VND 2,677 billion in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted on the tourism sector and casino business in which revenue dropped to VND 1,727 billion in 2020 and VND 1,359 billion in the first half of 2021.
The operational casinos contributed nearly VND 3.6 trillion (US$ 154 million) to the national budget.
Source: VGP