Another lucky lottery player is expected to come forth to claim a prize worth more than VND54.8 billion (US.4 million) from the Viet Nam Lottery Company, or Vietlott.
The American-style draw game, which launched in Vietnam in July, allows players to randomly choose six numbers to create a six-number ticket. Each ticket costs VND10,000 (US 44 cents) and jackpots start at VND12 billion (US$537,000). As in the U.S., jackpots are rolled over if no one wins.
According to Vietnam.net, Nguyen Thanh Dam, the company’s deputy director, says lottery sales rose 4.6 times in less than two months from VND159 billion (US$6.9 million) to VND734 billion (US$32.2 million) from September 30 to November 20.
The computerized lottery is a project of Vietlott and what Vietnam.net called “an indirect subsidiary” of Malaysia-based Berjaya Corp Bhd, which won an 18-year operational license in January.
But the website Yogonet.com reports that the number of winning jackpots—three in November alone—has raised questions about transparency; players have a one-in-8.1 million chance of winning. Vietlott has also come under fire by traditional lottery providers, who say the new lottery is eating up their market share, especially in South Vietnam. They also questioned the Malaysian partnership.
Vietlott Deputy CEO Nguyen Thanh Dam fired back, saying, “By the time Vietlott was launched in Vietnam, not a single local manufacturer had been able to produce the machines, equipment and technology solutions needed to run the computerized lottery.”
Nguyen Hoang Duong of Vietnam’s Finance Ministry defended the foreign partnership, saying Vietnam needed an experienced provider because it is “inexperienced in this new business model.
“The cooperation helps Vietnam leverage the experience and technology of the foreign partner as well as sharing losses if the business proves unsuccessful,” Duong said. He added that South Vietnam’s 21 lottery companies will not feel the impact. “They post a collective revenue of VND240 billion (US$10.71 million) a day, while Vietlott sells only four million tickets per draw,” Duong said.
