Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a decision approving a new location for a multi-billion-dollar recreational complex that includes a casino on Phu Quoc Island off mainland Kien Giang Province.

A scenic beach on Phu Quoc Island. The Prime Minister has approved the multi-billion-dollar recreational complex with a casino to go up in Bai Dai Ecotourism Area in Ganh Dau Commune instead of Bai Thom Commune on Phu Quoc Island

The complex will be developed in Bai Dai Ecotourism Area in Ganh Dau Commune instead of Bai Thom Commune, according to a just revised zoning development plan for Phu Quoc until 2030 approved by the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

The Government leader gave the nod to the change several months after the Ministry of Construction’s proposal for a new location to make it easy to find investors for the recreational project. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) backed the proposal.    

Early this year, the MPI was assigned to work with Kien Giang Province to prepare the project based on inputs from relevant ministries and propose incentives and policies after the Government issues a decree on casino business.

The complex is expected to comprise luxury hotels with 3,000 rooms, a conference center and a casino having 200-400 live tables and 2,000 gaming machines. Investors should spend at least US$4 billion on the project.

In his new decision on Phu Quoc, the Prime Minister approved around 567 hectares in Bai Dai and west of the island will be used for tourism and recreational services, a golf course, resorts and a casino, and craft villages.

Around 2,090 hectares of agricultural land and forest buffer zone in Cua Can Commune will be turned into an area for tourism and recreational services and a golf course.

He approved the 142-hectare area of farming land north of Vung Bau Stream to become a place for resorts and sport activities and a planned 102-hectare golf course in Cua Can into an ecotourism area.

The zoning plan envisages around 4,000 hectares for tourism; 3,325 hectares for tourism, services and residential areas; 37,430 hectares for forests with the buffer zone having around 6,666 hectares; and 3,953 for agricultural land.

Duong Dong Township will be the center of the resort island and have a square as envisioned in the zoning plan.

A general port will be up and running in Dat Do Bay and will consist of areas for logistics services for the oil and gas sector, and bonded warehouses for fuels and other goods. Duong Dong Port will be developed into an international passenger port, according to the Prime Minister’s decision.

The national forest and its buffer zone on Phu Quoc Island will be used for fishing, community-based educational programs, scientific research, picnicking, trekking, sightseeing, sports like parachuting, mountain climbing, and animal watching.

Earlier, the Southwest Steering Committee was told to collaborate with Kien Giang Province and relevant agencies to prepare a scheme to develop Phu Quoc into a special economic and administrative zone for international-standard tourism and recreational services. The zone will have centers for finance, science and technology, and marine and forestry biodiversity.