Officials have studied new casinos for five years
The government of Vietnam is telling casino developers and interested provinces they have to wait to submit gaming proposals.
The Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee has already pitched a casino development on the northern Cam Ranh peninsula. And Banyan Tree Capital has asked to add a casino to its coastal resort near Danang. The country’s Minister of Finance said it will not entertain such requests until it finishes a decree governing the development and operation of new casinos in the country, according to CalvinAyre.com. The ministry is taking it time; it first started studying the issue in 2010.
Vietnam now has five smaller standalone casinos, one megaresort, the Grand on the Ho Tram Strip, and some 50 small operations inside luxury hotels.
According to GGRAsia, the ministry drafted a decree in 2014 that would simplify the licensing process and possibly allow some residents to gamble within the country’s borders. Presently, Vietnam’s more than two dozen casinos only serve foreigners and Vietnamese with foreign passports; it’s widely felt that opening up gaming to locals is likely to increase investor interest.
