Analyst: Estimated .2B in annual GGR
Macau junket operator Suncity Group is one of the investors willing to bet on Vietnam’s growing casino industry, according to Bloomberg News.
In partnership with Vietnam-based asset management firm VinaCapital Group and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd., Suncity plans to develop a $4 billion resort in Quang Nam Province.
The joint venture, Hoi An South Development Co. Ltd., says its planned resort complex, called Hoiana, will be built in phases “over the next 10 to 15 years” and eventually include hotels, homes, a beachfront village, a conference center, a hospitality college, a “water sports hub” and a “giant lagoon” for swimming. Phase I of Hoiana is set to open in the first half of 2019.
Hoi An South Development is one of many groups looking to Vietnam as the government relaxes its regulations on gambling. Singapore developer Banyan Tree Holdings hopes to license a casino at the Laguna Lang Co resort development near Da Nang International Airport, reported VN Express. And local property developer FLC Group has proposed a $2 billion casino resort in the Van Don Special Economic Zone in Quang Ninh Province in northern Vietnam. It will reportedly include a casino, a five-star hotel, a convention center and golf course on the islands of Ngoc Vung and Van Canh.
Earlier this year, the Vietnamese government announced it would launch a three-year pilot program allowing citizens over 21 with a monthly income of at least VND10 million (US$445) to gamble in domestic casinos. Locals must pay an entry fee of VND1 million per day or VND25 million per month.
Research by analyst Augustine Ha Ton Vinh showed the Vietnamese spend an estimated $800 million each year gambling in Macau, Singapore and across the border in Cambodia.
To keep that money at home, the Vietnamese government has reduced the minimum investment from a prohibitive $4 billion to $2 billion. Vietnam could generate as much as $1.2 billion in gross gaming revenue each year, according to a Grant Govertsen of Union Gaming Securities Asia.
