News » Vietnam
Casino service legislation discussed
  • | VOV | February 21, 2014 03:32 PM
The National Assembly’s Committee for Finance and State Budget (CFSB) on February 20 worked with Ba Ria-Vung Tau provincial leaders and Ho Tram Company on building a legal framework for casino services.

On July 26, 2013, Ho Tram Company opened a casino at the Ho Tram Strip Complex in Xuyen Moc district, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, principally aimed at serving foreign tourists.

Since then the Government, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have issued several decrees and regulations directed at regulating rewards-based games for foreigners.

However, Ho Tram Company said the complex regulations have caused numerous difficulties for the company to run the service.  

Regulations related to destroying conventional money, required certifications provided to State agencies, along with minimum values and permitted bank transfers for foreigners are just a few of problems.


Participants at the meeting also discussed allowing Vietnamese people to play at the casino as this will help collect taxes and avoid foreign currencies losses.

CFSB Vice Chairman Dinh Trinh Hai said running casino services and allowing Vietnamese people to play the games is a sensitive issue that needs careful consideration. He said the committee will review and submit business proposals to relevant agencies to support the service.

The Ho Tram Strip Tourism Complex was built on 165ha at a cost of US$4.23 billion by Canadian group ACDL. US$540 million has been invested in the project to build a luxury hotel, a convention hall, nine restaurants and an entertainment site for foreigners with 90 gambling tables and 1,000 electronic games.

By the end of January, nearly 36,000 foreigners had played at the casino, generating more than US$5.5 million in turnover and contributing over US$2.8 million to the State budget.

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