Casinos still awaiting legal framework

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged the Ministry of Finance to finish the compilation of the draft decree regulating the business of lottery electronic games for foreigners in September 2011. The decree has been awaited by foreign investors, who have joined the quiet race for building casinos to attract more visitors and earn more money.

“Lottery electronic games” and “casino” different concepts

To date, “lottery electronic games” have been understood as a kind of gambling, and “joining electronic games” for prizes, means “going to casino”. Therefore, the document released by the Prime Minister has caught the special attention from the public, because it points out that the lottery electronic games for foreigners do not include “casino”.

The Prime Minister has asked the compilation agency to write down in the draft decree that only the people, who have foreign passports, can join these kinds of lottery electronic games.

“Casino” has always been considered a “sensitive” word and sensitive issue in Vietnam. Gambling has been prohibited in Vietnam for many years, because this is believed to come contrary to the Vietnamese habits and customs. Experts warn that if Vietnamese people can go to casinos, this may lead to unimaginable consequences.

This explains why only a few casino projects have been licensed so far in Vietnam. When joining WTO, Vietnam accepts to open its doors to foreign investors in many sectors. However, it still does not want to open the market of gambling and betting services, but it has only committed to allow to provide lottery electronic games.

In the past, the Ministry of Finance once submitted to the Government a draft decree on lottery electronic games for foreigners in 2009. However, the document has not been approved so far.

A controversial issue

The idea of licensing casino projects was put forward several years ago, when the decentralization mechanism in investment licensing was applied. Local authorities, who always try to attract foreign investment, have proposed to license casino projects in order to help develop local economies.

In May 2008, ACDL Group got the investment license to build the Ho Tram Complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, which includes a casino item. After that, Silver Shore Hoang Dat project in Da Nang was also licensed. And in 2010, the public heard about the licensing to Nam Hoi An resort project which includes a casino item.

In fact, Vietnam has just allowed to open only one casino in Phu Quoc island, and the project even needed the ratification of the Communist Party’s Politbureau.

Most recently, the Kien Giang province has reserved a land plot of 130 hectares in Phu Quoc Island for the opening of a resort with casino. The provincial authorities said they will find out the foreign investors who are financially capable enough, for the project.

To date, viewpoints remain different about whether to license casino projects in Vietnam. An official from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) said that localities want to open casinos, because the local economies can benefit soon from the casinos.

The people, who “vote for casino”, said that since Vietnam still does not have casino for Vietnamese, people still have to go abroad to gamble, bringing foreign currencies with themselves, which has caused the so called “foreign currency bleeding”. It is estimated that about one billion dollars goes abroad every year.

Meanwhile, those, who are against casino, said that casino should not be considered as the decisive factor in attracting tourism. They said that Vietnam should learn lessons from Russia, where too many casinos were set up, which has led to the boom of social evils. Though the Russian government has been applying drastic measures, it still cannot eliminate the consequences.

In an interview given to the local press, Lloyd Nathan, Managing Director of Asian Coast Development Limited, the investor of the Ho Tram project, revealed that MGM Grand Ho Tram project would be completed by early 2013.

When asked about the competitiveness of the casino in comparison with the casinos in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia, he said that the wonderful natural landscapes with 2.2 kilometers of the coastal line, this would be a good choice of destination for foreigners.

Source: TBKTVN

Tags: Vietnam casinos