The Ministry of Finance said that of the 9 licensed casinos, 8 are currently in operation, but these casinos are all losing heavily.
Vietnamese people spend 141 billion VND to play casino
The Ministry of Finance has just sent a report to the Politburo asking for guidelines on a number of important issues related to the management of casino activities in Vietnam.
Accordingly, this Ministry proposed to submit to the Politburo for permission to extend the pilot implementation period in Phu Quoc and Kien Giang from January 2022 to January 2024. Previously, at Notice No. 16 of the Politburo, Vietnamese people were allowed to play casinos in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Van Don (Quang Ninh) from 2019 to the end of 2021.
In the report, the Ministry of Finance suggested that apart from the casino project in Phu Quoc and Van Don for Vietnamese to play casino, not to expand the pilot for Vietnamese to play casino in other locations.
Regarding business results, according to the Ministry of Finance, in the two years 2017 – 2019, the casino business grew in revenue of about VND 1,700 billion, paying an average of more than VND 858 billion per year.
Since 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this activity has been difficult, and revenue has decreased sharply compared to before. In 2021, total revenue will reach VND 1,548 billion, of which Phu Quoc accounts for 39%. In the first 6 months of 2022, casino business is more prosperous, with total revenue of more than 971 billion VND.
According to the Ministry of Finance, casinos that are allowed to operate in Vietnam are suffering heavy losses
Regarding the piloting of Vietnamese people to play casino, the project in Phu Quoc started from January 2019, (according to the Ministry of Finance in the two years 2019 – 2020, Vietnamese visitors to the casino were 105,300 turns, accounting for 57.35%. total number of visitors (183,565); in 2021, there are 64,800 turns of Vietnamese people coming to play, accounting for 91% of the total number of people entering the casino to play 71,185 turns of people. Accumulated to the end of 2021, revenue from casino ticket sales to Vietnamese people reached about 141 billion VND.
Accumulated to the end of 2021, Phu Quoc casino has recorded 240,560 visitors, of which Vietnamese guests account for the majority with 65.6%, the rest are foreign guests. The accumulated revenue since the operation of this casino is about 3,218 billion VND and the amount paid to the state budget is 1,730 billion VND.
Regarding the business situation of all casinos in 2021, the Ministry of Finance said that of the 9 licensed casinos, 8 are currently in operation, but these casinos are all suffering heavy losses. In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, these casinos all operated in a difficult situation, had to suspend business during the time of social distancing. In 2021, Hong Van casino (Quang Ninh) had to close for business.
This leads to a sharp decrease in the business efficiency of casinos, in 2021, the revenue of casinos is only 89% compared to 2020, equal to 58% compared to 2019.
Total revenue in 2021 of 6 small casinos including Do Son casino in Hai Phong; Silver Shores in Da Nang; Lao Cai international hotels in Lao Cai and Loi Lai, Hoang Gia and Hong Van provinces together in Quang Ninh only reached VND 86 billion, much lower than in the 2017-2019 period.
Meanwhile, the total revenue of the same year of 3 large-scale casinos is Nam Hoi An (Quang Nam); Ho Tram (Ba Ria – Vung Tau) and Phu Quoc (Kien Giang) reached 1,462 billion VND.
The Ministry of Finance proposes the Politburo to allow the opening of 2 new casinos
Regarding the plan to apply for investment in many new casino projects, the Ministry of Finance said that for the proposal of 2 casino projects for foreigners to play, the casino at Sun World Ba Na Hills resort in Da Nang and the tourist area, general services and entertainment with casino on Hon Tre island (Khanh Hoa), the Ministry of Finance proposes to the Politburo to allow the policy.
Meanwhile, the proposal to allow foreigners to play casino in Binh Thuan province, the Ministry of Finance suggested the Prime Minister has not yet considered the report to the Politburo. The reason is that although Binh Thuan has grown in tourism, it is mainly domestic tourists, and the infrastructure to collect such as seaports and airports is limited. The new project is in the process of investment implementation and encounters problems in compensation and site clearance.
According to the Ministry of Finance, since Notice 16 of the Politburo until now, the Prime Minister has decided to invest in 3 large-scale casino projects in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Khanh Hoa, and Thua Thien – Hue, in which Phu Quoc casino went into business from January 2019 with 1,470 game machines, 147 tables and piloted for Vietnamese to play for 3 years.
The total number of casinos currently operating is 9 including: 6 small-scale casinos, namely Do Son casino (Hai Phong), Loi Lai casino, Royal casino, Hong Van hotel casino (Quang Ninh), international hotel casino. (Lao Cai), Silver Shores casino (Da Nang), Ho Tram casino (Ba Ria – Vung Tau) and Nam Hoi An casino (Quang Nam); 6 large-scale casinos are Ho Tram, Phu Quoc and Nam Hoi An.
Particularly, two projects in Hue and Khanh Hoa are under construction; For the casino project in Van Don (Quang Ninh) from 2017 until now, it is still in the process of applying for approval of the investment policy and is expected to bid to select an investor.
Source: CafeF