Developers urge government to gamble on casinos
To date there are only four casinos in Vietnam. All are on a small scale and are open only for foreigners. The Government of Vietnam states it does not encourage the development of casinos for fear of associated social problems. However, real estate developers have, once again, suggested that now is the right time to develop casinos. They say that if Vietnam does not start developing casinos right now, it will lose opportunities and money to nearby countries.
Nguyen Chi Dung, Chairman of Ninh Thuan Province’s People’s Committee, said that once casino projects are developed, they will help boost the development of local tourism, create more jobs and pay more to the state budget. “What we see in the last 15 years, since we allowed some casinos to operate on a trial basis, is that social evils at casinos can be controlled,” Dung said.
Casinos, according to Dung, must be located in tourist sites, outside residential quarters but not too far from the key economic zones of Vietnam.
Tang Phu Bao, general director of Casino Do Son in Hai Phong City, the first licensed casino in Vietnam, says that it is not so difficult to control casinos if Vietnam has reasonable policies. Meanwhile, casinos can bring very attractive services. “Las Vegas is located in a desert and far from residential quarters, but it is still one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world. Macao’s tourism has been developing well thanks to casinos,” Bao said.
Bao went on to say that although Vietnam has four casinos, they are open to foreigners only. Therefore, many Vietnamese people have to cross the border to go to casinos in Cambodia. He said that 95 percent of the players at a casino in Cambodia, near Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh province, are Vietnamese people. “As they are prohibited to play cards in Vietnam, they bring their money abroad and bring profit to a foreign country, Bao said. He has warned that in the future, when Singapore and Thailand open many more casinos, more Vietnamese people will go abroad, which means that the State will lose even larger sums of money.
Currently, a lot of foreign investors are considering running casinos in their tourism development investment projects which are mostly located in HCM City, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Phu Quoc and Binh Thuan provinces.
