Back in January, the government of Vietnam published a decree that confirmed a three year pilot program, providing locals with access to casinos. Citizens as well as casinos were given rules for participation in?the trial scheme, with the decree set to take effect on March 15th, 2017. Since that time, several casino companies and investors have looked to become involved in the country. This week, a new investor was revealed, with FLC Faros Van Don given permission to invest around $2 billion in a casino resort for the Quang Ninh region of the country.
FLC Faros Van Don is a unit of the FLC Group Joint-stock Co., a company co-founded by billionaire Trinh Van Quyet. The unit of the FLC Group was given permission by the Quang Ninh northern provincial government to invest monies in a new casino resort, according to an email statement reported by Bloomberg.
The $2 billion casino resort project will include a casino of course, along with a five-star hotel, golf course and convention center. The location will be the Van Don Special Economic Zone which is located on the islands Van Canh and Ngoc Vung. The complex will be 4,000 hectares in size.
With the news of the casino project announced, the shares of FLC increased by as much as 5.1% during trading yesterday. The company is hoping the complex will be able to bring in tourists as well as domestic gamblers.
Government leaders in Vietnam are having to deal with continuously growing budget deficits and decided that gambling initiatives will help to keep millions of dollars in the country. Middle-class citizens, as well as the wealthy, have visited casinos abroad due to not having access in the past. In 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued two decrees in order to increase the ability for Vietnam to be competitive in the gambling industry.
One plan by the Prime Minister will allow citizens to gamble for the very first time at local casinos while another will focus on allowing bets on horse races, dog races and international soccer matches, nationwide.
Several companies are interested in becoming involved in the Vietnam gambling industry now that locals will be allowed to take part. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation continues to show interest, having stated just a few weeks ago that they have been in discussions for many years with the government of Vietnam and remain hopeful that they will be able to bring a casino to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, two of the largest cities in the country.