VietNamNet Bridge – Casinos would surely bring hefty revenues. But Vietnam should have, at most, two casinos, say experts. That said, they also agree that the casinos should be open to all, including Vietnamese.

Why does Vietnam still restrict casino development and prohibit Vietnamese from gambling, if it’s a given that casinos will bring fat profits and, accordingly, increased funds to government coffers? That question has been posed many times by businessmen, who insist that casino revenue would be a boon to both casino developers and the state budget.

Vietnam surrounded by “casino paradises”

Van Don nurtures the dream of setting up a casino here.

In Asia, Macau is considered paradise of casinos. After only two years of its presence there, the industry brought in revenue equal to that of the U.S. gambling Mecca, Las Vegas. But that was just the start. In 2011, casinos in the small island had a turnover five times higher than Vegas. And in 2013, they earned $47 billion, or seven times higher.

A big portion of the profit has been reaped by Sheldon Adelson, owner of the number 1 casino group, Las Vegas Sands. The billionaire himself could not imagine that the casinos in Macau would bring such huge returns. When setting foot there, Las Vegas Sands was cautious enough to buy an $80 million small hotel with only 80 rooms.

He was able to take back his investment capital after only 10 months of operation of the hotel.

Casinos are believed to be an important source of income for the island, where the GDP per capita is $62,000 per annum and the unemployment rate is zero.

Most recently, the local authorities have decided to use the money from casinos to develop two mammoth projects – a highway from Hong Kong to Macau and a university, expected to be the biggest in Asia.

In Singapore, where 60 percent of the population gambles, the owners of Las Vegas Sands and Genting believe that they will recover their investment capital after four years of operation from every casino opened there.

Macau’s and Singapore’s stories are the two prototypical examples that Prof Ha Ton Vinh, President and CEO of Stellar Management, cites to talk about the prospect of casino projects in Vietnam. The expert insists that if Vietnam is determined to develop casinos, it will surely succeed.

Vietnam needs two casinos only?

Pham Minh Chinh, Secretary of the Quang Ninh provincial Communist Party’s Central Committee, said he dreams of setting up a casino, Van Don, in the province. “If people go to Las Vegas to gamble, to Macau to gamble and to go shopping, they would go to Van Don to enjoy specialty food, sleep, relax and gamble,” he said.

“Foreign investors keep complaining they incur losses with casinos. But I believe the casino is a very profitable business field,” said Nguyen Truong Son, President of Bao Son Group.

However, Son thinks there should be only two casinos in Vietnam, one in Van Don and the other on Phu Quoc Island.

Nguyen Vu Thanh, Chief Representative of the US-ASEAN Business Council, a US group, which came to Vietnam in 2008 to learn about the investment opportunities, also said with the Vietnam’s population and development prospects, no more than two casino licenses should be granted.

Pham Huyen