9 casinos contribute 9,000 billion VND to the budget

Solving for nearly 10,000 workers

On the morning of March 18, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc answered questions at the 31st session of the National Assembly Standing Committee.

National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Duy Minh (Da Nang delegation) asked: Minister, how many casino businesses are there in the country? What is the current business situation of these businesses? Do the businesses that are allowed to operate casinos contribute much to the local economy, especially in attracting tourists to stay and spend locally?

Besides, currently only Phu Quoc casino is piloted for Vietnamese people at Hon Tre Casino. How does the Minister evaluate the results of this pilot and will there be a consideration to expand the pilot for Vietnamese people to play in casinos in the future?

Finance - Banking - 9 casinos contribute 9,000 billion VND to the budget — Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc.

Responding to this content, the Minister of Finance said that currently there are 9 casinos nationwide. Of which, there are 3 large casinos: Phu Quoc, Ho Tram, Nam Hoi An, the remaining 6 small casinos are mainly in Hai Phong, Quang Ninh and Lao Cai.

According to the Government's decision approving investment policies, there are 2 casinos under construction in Khanh Hoa and Thua Thien Hue, and one casino is applying for policy in Van Don.

Regarding the issue of how much casinos contribute to the budget, Mr. Phoc said: "From 2017 to 2023, casinos will contribute about 9,000 billion VND to the budget, creating nearly 10,000 jobs."

In Phu Quoc, in the first years, 69% of Vietnamese people came to play, but in 2023, 39% were Vietnamese people. That is, the number of Vietnamese people is decreasing while the number of foreigners is increasing.

Betting on football, horse racing, dog racing is not yet available.

Participating in the questioning, National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thi Hue (Bac Kan delegation) said that according to the report of the Ministry of Finance, in recent times, many places have taken advantage of the business of electronic games with prizes and betting with prizes to organize gambling or illegal betting, causing difficulties for the management of State agencies.

The delegates asked Minister Ho Duc Phoc to inform them about the changes in the legal framework for the business of electronic games with prizes and betting with prizes in recent times. Why has the Ministry of Finance not yet granted a license to any betting business? At the same time, the Minister was asked to inform them about the solutions to make management in this field effective?

Finance - Banking - 9 casinos contribute 9,000 billion VND to the budget (Image 2). — National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Hue questioned.

Responding to questions about betting and electronic games, Minister Ho Duc Phoc said that currently, in our country, there are 93 electronic games located in 5-star hotels. However, the conditions for being located there are that the enterprise must have capital of 500 billion VND or more, must have an electronic equipment system, and a professional team to supervise.

Those games are only available to foreigners. This system has supported 5-star hotels, helping them achieve business results as well as solving labor problems.

Regarding betting, Mr. Phoc said that there are currently types of betting on football, horse racing, and dog racing, however, they have not been implemented yet. When implementing football betting, the Ministry developed regulations to organize bidding, but encountered problems with the Bidding Law.

"Recently, when amending the Law on Bidding, we have introduced regulations on this issue. We need to continue to perfect the legal framework to implement football betting," said Mr. Phoc.

As for horse and dog racing, there are regulations that require investors to build standard racetrack systems, with professional equipment and workers, to ensure implementation.

"This is a new form, the Ministry is actively researching, implementing, and preventing risks through this form," said Mr. Phoc.

The Minister of Finance said that for these forms of investment licensing, the Ministry of Planning and Investment will submit to the Government for the Prime Minister to issue an investment policy, but when the infrastructure is completed to meet the conditions for betting licensing, the Ministry of Finance will be responsible. The Ministry will actively implement to resolve this issue .

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