A series of billion-dollar projects are accelerating to catch the casino wave in Vietnam.

There are at least four foreign entities that have been planning to invest billions of dollars in casino projects and other types of betting in Vietnam.

Belonging to the group of projects with the largest scale at present (4 billion USD), the Nam Hoi An Casino Resort Complex project was restarted by investor VinaCapital in early 2016, after findingThe new partner joining the joint venture is Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (Hong Kong, China).

Previously, this project had been in preparation since 2007 andgranted investment certificatesince late 2010, but has not been able to be implemented after many years, especially after VinaCapital's initial partner - Genting Berhad Malaysia withdrew in September 2012.

Coastal resort projects combined with casinos are of particular interest to investors.

Another project with a scale of over 4 billion USD is Ho Tram Strip, this is a cluster of 5 complex resorts with a total area of ​​over 164 hectares, located along the beach of Ba Ria - Vung Tau. The total registered capital reached over 4.2 billion USD within 10 years. Currently, the project has disbursed over 1 billion USD.

Similarly, Singapore's Banyan Tree Holdings Limited is also investing in the Laguna Lang Co resort with a total investment capital ofregistered nearly 1 billion USD in Hue. This project is in the process of applying for a casino business license.

According to information from Bloomberg and Nikkei Asia Review, the two leading real estate developers in Vietnam, Vingroup and Sungroup, are also planning to invest in casino complexes in Phu Quoc and Van Don in 2017. However, the scale and detailed plans for the projects have not yet been disclosed.

Also anticipating regulations on prize-winning game business in Vietnam, recently, GO Max I&D - a Korean corporation also planned to invest 1.5 billion USD in a horse racing complex in the northern area of ​​Hanoi.A series of other projects with a scale of less than 1 billion USD in this field are also being prepared for implementation in Vietnam by major investors such as Matrix Holdings of Hong Kong (China), Global Consultant Network of Korea, and Golden Turf Club of Australia.

According to Mr. George Tanasijevich, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation - the world's leading casino business group, foreign gaming businesses have seen opportunities to expand in the Vietnamese market. This unit has also considered investing in projects in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi for many years.

"Las Vegas Sands Group is eager to carry out a project in Vietnam, but it depends on future casino business regulations, as the trial period in the next 3 years is potentially uncertain and risky,"Mr. George Tanasijevich commented.

Many billion-dollar casino projects are preparing to be implemented in Vietnam, as regulations on casino business have just been issued by the Government after nearly 10 years of research. Illustrative photo

According to the Decree on casino business recently issued by the Government after nearly 10 years of research,Vietnamese people are first allowed to play at casinos in Vietnam during a 3-year pilot period.

This Decree also clearly states that projects of service, tourism and entertainment complexes with casinos will only be granted investment registration certificates when they have been approved in principle by competent authorities, have a minimum investment capital of 2 billion USD, and have the following minimum items: hotels, service, tourism, trade, entertainment and conference centers.

After many years of development in Vietnam, the casino system for foreigners has a strong differentiation in business results when most of the systems in border areas have quite good business results while the casinos in coastal areas operate more dependently.on the number of Chinese tourists and a small number of tourists from Korea and Japan.

Owning the only casino for foreigners in Ha Long city, Royal International Joint Stock Company (Stock code: RIC) recently announced that its business results continued to decline.In 2016, the foreign casino division brought in nearly VND88 billion in revenue for Royal International, second only to hotel revenue, but recorded an operating loss of nearly VND36 billion due to cost of goods sold of more than VND123 billion.

The same situation is also happening to some other coastal casinos such as Do Son (Hai Phong). Responding to Nikkei, Ben Lee - a consultant on prize games in Macau (China), who previously advised the management board of the Ho Tram project, said that in 2016, this project was estimated to still lose about 3 million USD per month.

According to VNE