Hard Rock the likely operator
The Laguna Lăng Cô integrated resort in Vietnam is expected to open its new casino in 2022. The company won the country’s first gaming license in 10 years and took possession of the license at the Singapore Business Forum in April, according to TTG Asia.
The resort opened in April 2013 with a 57-villa Banyan Tree resort, a 229-room Angsana resort and an 18-hole golf course.
Phase II of development at the resort will continue into 2022—a year later than announced earlier this year—for a cost of US$2 billion, the minimum investment under Vietnam’s new casino legislation.
According to earlier media reports, the casino will open with 500 electronic gaming machines and 50 card shufflers, with 2,000 EGMs and 200 card shufflers in play by 2029. The IR will also add six five-star hotels and more than 2,200 villas and apartments.
U.S.-based hospitality giant Hard Rock International has expressed an interest in operating the casino. Last summer Daniel Cheng, Hard Rock’s senior vice president for casino business development in Asia, told GGRAsia the company had “finished all the site studies and completed all project financing.”
Vietnam is planning to establish three special economic zones with casinos: in Van Don in Northern Quang Ninh Province, Bac Van Phong in Central Khanh Hoa Province, and Phu Quoc in the Southern Kien Giang Province. Two major IR projects are planned for two of the zones, Van Don and Phu Quoc, and both will participate in a three-year trial of locals gaming.
But last month, local media reported that proposed tax incentives for casinos and gaming companies in the zones were too generous and could be cut back. According to Inside Asian Gaming, under the original proposal projects in Vietnam’s SEZs would get a 100 percent tax deduction for the first four years of operation, 50 percent for the next five years and 10 percent for another 21 years before reverting to the standard tax rate.
The new proposal would have them pay a “preferential corporate income tax” of 17 percent from Day One for the first five years and a higher excise tax, up from 10 percent to 15 percent for the first 10 years. Unlimited land and sea lease exemptions would also be shelved and the exemption period cut to a maximum of 30 years in Van Don and Bac Van Phong and 20 years in Phu Quoc.
VNExpress reports that Ho Chi Minh City delegate Truong Trong Nghia says the zones should not be developed concurrently, but phased in one by one. “If mistakes are made, it would be difficult to undo them,” the lawmaker said. “According to the development plan, the total cost to develop the SEZs would be VND1.5 trillion (US$66 billion). If that money is spent on providing incentives for land and sea lease, wouldn’t many families have to relocate to make room for new leases? And this would be in the interest of investors. We delegates expect that these SEZs live up to the amount of money spent on them.”
Nghia told the National Assembly that SEZ are a risky investment subject to political deal-making. The Ministry of Planning and Investment countered that the SEZs could bring in a total of VND9.5 billion (US$417 million) each year in taxes and other fees. By 2030, the total number of jobs created in the three areas could exceed 760,000, with income per capita up to $13,000, 5.4 times the current level.
