While
confirming that the establishment of casinos is necessary for the development
of world-class tourism centers in Vietnam, a top official from the Vietnam
Chamber of Commerce and Industry said this activity should be watched closely
by administrative authorities.
Developing a tourism and casino complex is not
a new move for countries in the region and in other parts of the world, VCCI
Chairman Vu Tien Loc told a conference on promoting tourism in northern Quang
Ninh Province last week.
Loc said that Southeast Asia is currently home
to 200 licensed casinos. In the neighboring country of Cambodia, there are 14
casinos, he said.
“Reality has proved that licensing the
operation of casinos can yield many economic benefits,” said Loc.
“For instance, Las Vegas has turned the US
southwest deserts into an active urban area, which reaps annual profits of
dozens of billions of dollars.”
The chairman thus demanded that Vietnam build
some tourism-entertainment complexes, including casinos, at world-class levels
in the coming years.
“However, Vietnam should take careful steps in
implementing the plan, in order to minimize the negative affects the casinos
can have on society,” he cautioned.
Lack of legal frameworks
Loc said Vietnam has granted licenses to many
entertainment-gaming complexes of various scale in Phu Quoc, New City in Phu
Yen Province, Silver Shores and Furama in Da Nang, and Saigon Atlantic in Vung
Tau.
However, all of these projects have been
hindered, since there are yet to be any fully developed legal regulations for
casino activities, added Loc.
He said the Ministry of Finance is collecting
feedback on a draft regulation targeting the gambling activities it has
recently developed.
“I think the largest obstacle in legalizing
casino operations is the social awareness and the relevant legal framework,”
shared Loc.
“Once we can solve the problems and put the
casino into use, it will benefit not only the casino, but also the tourism
industry.”
Sharing Loc’s view, Tetsu Asano, chairman of
GM Hong Kong, which is investing in many casino projects in Vietnam, said many
countries have borne sweet fruits from licensing casino operations.
For instance, he said, local citizens in Macau
receive substantial welfare from casino profits, while the casino’s
contribution to the Singaporean state budget has soared after just two years.
According to AFP, the two casinos in Sentosa
and Marina Bay account for 14.7 per cent of Singapore GDP in 2010.
“Fairly speaking, opening casinos will
inevitably affect the society,” said Asano.
“However, after all, we will have more
positive factors than negative ones.”
Mobilizing capital and licensing casinos in Vietnam has recently
attracted special attention from investors.
Earlier this month, the northern province of Quang Ninh announced that it
is seeking investment to build a casino worth $4 billion, a project it said has
been green-lighted by the Prime Minister.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation, one of the world’s leading resort
developers, also said recently it was contemplating investing $6 billion to
build tourism-entertaining complexes and casinos in Vietnam.
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