The Vietnamese economy is poised for a strong recovery, with its gaming industry likely to benefit. Proposed new gaming regulations plus favorable foreign investment trends all bode well for the industry, as does the high level of vaccination among the populace.
According to Asia Gaming Brief, in six months the country has gone from fewer than 3 percent of people vaccinated to more than 90 percent. As a result, tourism is expected to surge. International flights from nine countries have been permitted as of mid-January.
Even before the pandemic, AGB reported, Vietnam benefited from China/U.S. trade tensions, which caused foreign investment to divert from the mainland to “cheaper Southeast Asian destinations” not subject to U.S. tariffs.
According to law firm Dezan Shira & Associates, over the first 11 months of 2021, Vietnam received about $26.46 billion in foreign direct investment, mainly from Singapore, South Korea and Japan. The firm said it believes that 2022 is an ideal time to invest in Vietnam.
“With a solid vision for the future, Vietnam has created a concrete foundation to bounce back stronger in 2022, with the amendment of a variety of important laws that help improve its business climate.”
The government is targeting gross domestic product growth of 6 percent to 6.5 percent this year. Tim Shepherd, director of Fortuna Investments, told the news outlet, “We’re seeing more Korean investment and more Malaysian investment and potentially American, and that means foreigners coming in behind it and looking for something to do.”
Locals may gamble in just one integrated resort in the country, the Corona Resort & Casino on Phu Quoc Island. They will also be able to enter and play at a casino in Van Dong when it opens.
Vietnam has many foreigners-only VIP clubs in five-star hotels in major metropolitan areas. “We have invested in a hotel club in the north, which did very well until the pandemic, but that’s been closed now for two years,” Shepherd said. “That being said, we have a VIP club in Hanoi which is open and doing well, we’re also looking at a VIP club in Ho Chi Minh City as we really like this sector.
“There is a significant expatriate community in HCM and returning Vietnamese, so those clubs will tend to do better, but we are seeing significant investment in the north and that’s dragging along with it those increased numbers of Koreans and Malaysians,” he said.
Once international travel resumes, Vietnam IRs are expected to benefit. Tourism numbers to the country reached an all-time high of 18 million in 2019. Vietnam was a popular destination for Mainland Chinese tourists and wasn’t high on Beijing’s blacklist of jurisdictions targeting its nationals for gambling purposes.
Vietnam could fully reopen to international tourists by the end of April, said the country’s Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Nguyen Van Hung. “We cannot wait so long, and April 30 will be the right time,” he said, according to a VietnamNet report. “Visitors are eager to return to Vietnam in safe conditions … Vietnam is a safe destination in the region and the world.”
