Addressing the query session with the Minister of Finance, Ho Duc Phoc on March 18, 2024, delegate Nguyen Duy Minh, National Assembly of Da Nang City, requested the Minister of Finance to provide information on the business situation of casinos and the contribution of this sector to the local economy, especially in attracting tourists for accommodation and consumption.
In addition, currently only Phu Quoc casino is allowed for Vietnamese people to play casino games. The National Assembly delegate of Da Nang City requested the Minister to provide information on the trial results and consider expanding the trial for Vietnamese people to play casino games.
CASINO BUSINESS CONTRIBUTES VND 9,000 BILLION TO THE BUDGET
Responding to questions about lottery, betting, and casino business activities, the Minister of Finance stated that there are currently 9 casinos nationwide.
“From 2017 – 2023, casinos have contributed approximately VND 9,000 billion to the budget and created nearly 10,000 jobs. Vietnamese people are only allowed to play casino games in Phu Quoc, and there is a proposal for Van Don. In Phu Quoc, in the first few years, up to 69% of Vietnamese people visited the casino, but now the percentage of Vietnamese people visiting the casino has gradually decreased each year to 39%”.
Mr. Ho Duc Phoc, Minister of Finance
Among them, the 6 small-scale casinos are: Do Son – Hai Phong (with an investment of USD 27 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 50 machines and 10 gaming tables); Loi Lai – Quang Ninh (with an investment of USD 10 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 100 machines and 14 gaming tables); Hoang Gia – Quang Ninh (with an investment of USD 42 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 70 machines and 18 gaming tables); Hong Van Hotel – Quang Ninh (allowed to operate a maximum of 70 machines and 18 gaming tables); International Hotel – Lao Cai (with an investment of USD 1.3 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 300 machines and 8 gaming tables); Silver Shores – Da Nang (with an investment of USD 27 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 100 machines and 8 gaming tables).
In addition, the 3 large-scale casinos are: Ho Tram – Ba Ria Vung Tau (total investment of USD 4,230 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 1,000 machines and 90 gaming tables); Nam Hoi An – Quang Nam (total investment of USD 4,000 million, allowed to operate a maximum of 1,000 machines and 140 gaming tables), Phu Quoc – Kien Giang (total investment of VND 50,000 billion, allowed to operate a maximum of 1,470 machines and 147 gaming tables).
Furthermore, there are currently 2 projects under construction in accordance with the investment regulations, including the KN Paradise project in Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa) and the Laguna project in Lang Co (Hue). These projects have not started operating the casinos due to the impact of the Covid pandemic, causing delays and difficulties in negotiating partner selection and casino management.
In addition, there is a casino project currently seeking approval for investment in Van Don.
OBSTACLES, BUSINESSES NOT ALLOWED TO OPERATE BETTING
Regarding the effectiveness of the management of betting activities with prizes, raising questions during the session, delegate Nguyen Thi Hue, National Assembly of Bac Kan Province, raised concerns: in the past period, many places have taken advantage of electronic gaming and betting activities to organize gambling or illegal betting, causing difficulties in the management work of state agencies.
Therefore, delegate Nguyen Thi Hue of Bac Kan Province requested Minister Ho Duc Phoc to provide information on how the legal framework for electronic gaming and betting activities with prizes has changed in the past period.
“Why until now, the Ministry of Finance still hasn’t granted licenses for any betting business, and I request the Minister to explain the solution to make the management work in this field effective,” delegate Nguyen Thi Hue questioned.
Delegate Nguyen Tao, National Assembly of Lam Dong Province, also pointed out that, in the 7 years since the effective date of Decree 06, there have been many shortcomings in the implementation process. Therefore, the delegate proposed that the Minister explain the reasons and solutions in the coming time to facilitate investors, generate revenue for the state budget, create jobs for laborers, especially contribute to preventing illegal betting activities and capital outflow.
Answering questions about betting and electronic gaming, Minister Ho Duc Phoc stated that currently, there are 93 electronic games in 5-star hotels across the country. However, the condition is that the enterprise must have a capital of VND 500 billion or more and must have an electronic system and a professional team to supervise the games. These games are applicable to foreign players only.
Regarding betting, for horse racing and dog racing, investment project approvals have been granted, but the Ministry of Finance has not received any applications for licenses. For the horse racing betting project at the horse racing track in Soc Son, a license has been issued, but there are difficulties regarding capital contribution.
“When implementing betting activities for football, the ministry proceeded to build regulations to organize bidding, but faced difficulties with the Procurement Law. Recently, when amending the Procurement Law, regulations on this issue have been included but further improvement of the legal framework is needed to implement football betting,” the Minister stated.
In addition, for horse racing and dog racing, the investor must build a standard racing stable with equipment and a professional workforce to ensure its operation. Moreover, this type of activity is associated with a series of other conditions such as land, planning, environmental impact assessment related to rice fields or forests, land reclamation, land transfer…
Since this is a new type, the Ministry of Finance is actively researching and implementing the construction of a draft guideline for implementing the law, with plans to be issued by the Government soon; at the same time, prevent risks in this form.
When granting investment licenses, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will submit it to the Government, for the Prime Minister to issue an investment policy, but when completing the infrastructure to meet the conditions for granting betting licenses, the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance arises, and the Ministry will actively address this issue.
From 2019 – 2021, revenue from casino business activities declined due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with no international visitors. Starting from 2022, international visitors have started to return. In 2023, the state budget contribution was VND 2,541 billion, an increase of 56% compared to 2022 implementation, equivalent to 1.8 times before the Covid outbreak and has created about 8,500 jobs.
In terms of business performance, cumulative revenue from 2019 – 2023 reached VND 6,404 billion, contributing VND 3,679 billion to the state budget. In 2023, casino business results were remarkable compared to 2022, with revenue reaching VND 2,180 billion (an increase of 45.7%), contributing VND 1,230 billion to the state budget (an increase of 68.9%). Ticket revenue (for Vietnamese people) in 2023 reached VND 32,225 billion, and from 2019 – 2023, it reached VND 242 billion. Although the casino business results were better than in 2022, the overall project is still incurring a cumulative loss of VND 3,724 billion due to large depreciation and interest payment costs in the initial stage.
Report by the Ministry of Finance.
