HCMC – The Ministry of Finance has thrown its support behind two casino projects in Danang City and Khanh Hoa Province.
The ministry has submitted to the prime minister a report on the casino management and business in Vietnam, Tuoi Tre Online newspaper reported.
Earlier, three localities had proposed developing casino projects—one on Hon Tre Island in Khanh Hoa, one in the Sun World Ba Na Hill tourist site in Danang and another in the Ocean Valley tourist site in Binh Thuan.
The investors of the casino projects in Danang and Khanh Hoa are Sun Group Corporation and Vinpearl JSC. The two projects have the potential to help develop the tourism sector and attract foreign visitors, and their investors have a strong financial capacity.
To date, Sun Group Corporation has invested VND16 trillion in the Sun World Ba Na Hill tourist site, while Danang City is yet to have a large casino.
Meanwhile, Vinpearl JSC has poured more than VND25.7 trillion into the service, tourism and entertainment complex on Hon Tre Island.
As for the casino project in Binh Thuan, the Ministry of Finance explained that the number of international tourists to the province remained low. In addition, the Ho Tram Casino in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, which is near Binh Thuan, has not been operating as effectively as expected. Therefore, the ministry did not submit the project to the prime minister.
The ministry also rejected the Ba Ria-Vung Tau government’s proposal to allow Vietnamese people to use services at the Ho Tram Casino.
Casinos in Kien Giang’s Phu Quoc and Quang Ninh’s Van Don have been allowed to pilot receiving Vietnamese people until 2022. However, the Ministry of Finance proposed extending the period until 2024 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In reality, only the casino in Phu Quoc has received Vietnamese visitors. As of September 2021, the casino had welcomed 240,560 arrivals, with 35% being foreigners and 65% being Vietnamese people.
It has suffered a loss of some VND3.9 trillion.
