All revenue deposited into the local budget
Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc has reported some relevant contents regarding the group of issues of interpellation at the 31st Session of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on March 18.
Regarding the lottery business, Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that there are 64 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in the country. Specifically, there are 63 lottery companies in 63 provinces and cities that operate traditional lottery businesses, and 1 MTV Lottery Company Vietnam which has been operating computerized lottery business nationwide since 2017.
Statistics show that in 2023, the revenue reached 153.037 trillion VND, an increase of 11% compared to 2022 (including about 50% used for rewards), contributing 45.016 trillion VND to the state budget, an increase of 10.3% compared to 2022, of which computerized lottery accounted for 3.4%.
The whole country has 64 SOEs operating in the lottery business. (Illustrative image)
All revenue from the lottery is deposited into the local budget and approved by the National Assembly every year for investment and development, with priority given to investment in the education and training sector, vocational training, and the healthcare sector.
“This is an important source of revenue for localities, especially for provinces in the South to implement their development investment goals. Besides, the lottery business also provides jobs for the system of agents and lottery ticket sellers,” Minister Ho Duc Phoc emphasized.
In terms of management, according to Minister Phoc, the Ministry of Finance regularly conducts direct inspections of lottery business activities with 5-11 enterprises per year and monitors them remotely through reporting mechanisms. Based on that, there are regular official letters requesting Lottery Companies to operate their businesses in compliance with legal regulations.
There still exist limitations, with the commander of the finance sector pointing out that traditional manually drawn lottery products still occupy a large proportion; the development is uneven among regions (the market share of traditional lottery in the South accounts for up to 93.3%).
In addition, recently, there have been cases of some organizations and individuals taking advantage of civil law to conduct lottery business, distribute lottery tickets through electronic applications, the Internet, and intermediary payment methods…
According to Minister Ho Duc Phoc, these existing limitations are mainly due to the preferences of consumers, regional habits, and the fact that computerized lottery has only been in operation for 7 years, so its market share is still small.
Regarding solutions in the coming time, Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that the Ministry of Finance will continue to coordinate with ministries and sectors to strengthen management and supervision, and handle violations in lottery business activities.
Not expanding the pilot project for Vietnamese people to play casino
In the casino business sector, there are currently 9 projects in operation. In addition, there are currently 2 projects under construction in accordance with investment regulations, which have not been put into casino operation due to the impact of COVID-19, leading to delays and difficulties in negotiating and choosing partners and managing casino operations.
In 2016, the Politburo allowed a pilot project for Vietnamese people to play casino in Phu Quoc and Van Don, with a trial period of 3 years. Currently, only the casino project in Phu Quoc has been implemented and put into operation since January 2019.
After the trial period, the Ministry of Finance stated that the accumulated revenue from 2019 to 2023 reached 6,404 trillion VND, contributing 3,679 trillion VND to the state budget. In 2023, the casino business results are remarkable compared to 2022, with revenue reaching 2,180 trillion VND (an increase of 45.7%), contributing 1,230 trillion VND to the state budget (an increase of 68.9%).
In terms of the number of visitors to play in casinos, from 2019 to the end of 2023, there were 295,943 Vietnamese people (accounting for 62% of the total players) and 179,507 foreigners (accounting for 38% of the total players).
The age of Vietnamese players in Phu Quoc Casino ranges from 21 to 97, with the most common age being 39.
In terms of management and supervision, the Ministry of Public Security and the People’s Committee of Kien Giang province have inspected security and order, and according to the assessments of these agencies, since the casino in Phu Quoc began operation until now, the basic regulations and conditions regarding security and order for casino business have been complied with.
According to Minister Ho Duc Phoc, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Finance is reporting to the Politburo, requesting permission to continue the pilot project for Vietnamese people to play casino in a cautious manner, focusing only on Phu Quoc and Van Don, without expanding the pilot project to other casino projects.
Regarding the electronic games business with rewards for foreigners, currently, there are 69 business points nationwide, concentrated in 5-star hotels located in provinces and cities with developed social and tourism economies (such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Khanh Hoa, Da Nang…). In 2024, the Ministry of Finance plans to inspect the business activities of 11 enterprises.
