Vietnam weighs extending casino pilot program by two years

The ministry also 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 ($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 VND25.7 trillion so far, including a hotel, an amusement park, a golf course, and a convention center.

The finance ministry reported that Vietnam houses nine operational casinos in which the Phu Quoc-based casino is piloting the program allowing Vietnamese nationals to play games. The revenue minus payment costs of Phu Quoc casino is VND3.2 trillion. Currently, the casino has lost about VND3.9 trillion.

Casino business revenue increased from VND1,190 billion in 2017 to VND2,677 billion in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the tourism sector and casino business in which revenue dropped to VND1,727 billion in 2020 and VND1,359 billion in the first half of 2021.

The operational casinos contributed nearly VND3.6 trillion ($ 154 million) to the national budget. 

Source: VGP