Local investment on the rise?
Vietnam’s Thua Thien-Hue province has asked Prime Minister Nguy?n T?n D?ng to add the Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone to a list of proposed casino sites in the country, VnExpress reports.
The centrally located province says Chan May-Lang Co, set in a major coastal economic zone, has great “trade and tourism potential.” Its tourism numbers are already robust, with 3 million visitors in 2014, of whom one-third were foreigners, who are permitted to gamble in Vietnam.
The vicinity has already attracted the attention of a Hong Kong company that has $2 billion to invest, according to the Asia Gaming Brief. All told, various companies have earmarked about VND34 trillion ($US1.55 billion) for 25 tourism projects in the zone, of which VND12 trillion has already been invested.
Officials in the province project that tourism will continue to grow, and the zone could attract as many as 12 million visitors in 2020, including 5 million foreigners, according to AGB.
Meanwhile, a government decision to relocate a casino resort from Da Chong in Bai Thom Commune to Bai Dai Eco-tourism area in Ganh Dau Commune has reignited a debate about allowing local investors to enter the industry. According to VietNamNet Bridge, the Phu Quoc casino project, approved by the prime minister in January, could include “a big real estate group in Vietnam” among the investors.
If the report is valid, the unnamed real estate firm, together with Sun Group, would then be the major players in casino development in the country, the website reported. One would run the Phu Quoc Island casino in the south, and the other would operate in the Van Don Economic Zone in Quang Ninh Province to the north.
The Vietnam-based Sun Group has not yet been licensed in the country, but sources say it is the most likely contender for the Van Don project. In the past, foreign investors have been favored because they were thought to have deeper pockets and more experience in the industry.
The Phu Quoc and Van Don projects have been “hailed as the beginning of a new wave of casino investment in Vietnam,” according to the Voice of Vietnam.
