Donaco International has received an amended investment certificate from the government of Vietnam clearing the operator to open an expanded hotel and foreigners-only casino later this month on the country’s northern border with China.
Donaco, controlled by family members of Genting Chairman Lim Khok Thay, is scheduled to unveil its new 428-room Lao Cai International Hotel, possibly containing as many as 50 table games, on May 18.
It currently has 34 rooms. The casino, one of seven in the country, all restricted to foreign passport holders, has 36 slot machines and only eight tables.
Despite its small size, though, operating revenue for the six months ended December 31 increased 100 percent over the same period in 2012, mainly on the lucrative cross-border trade with China’s Yunnan province. VIP revenue was up 44 percent.
Australia-based, ASX-listed Donaco owns 95 percent of the property, with the remainder held by the Vietnamese state-owned Sa Pa Petroleum Tourism Joint Stock Company.
