Vietnamese spend billions of dollars on gambling overseas
Vietnamese spend billions of dollars on gambling overseas
As the domestic casinos bar their doors to Vietnamese, they have been going to Cambodia to gamble.
It was Saturday. The bus No. 703 departing from Ben Thanh Market in the central area of HCM City to the duty-free supermarket close to the Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh province was full of passengers. The majority of them were middle aged women.
The women did not go to the supermarket to do shopping. Their actual destination point is the casino, beyond the border line, in Cambodian territory, just 3 kilometers far from the Moc Bai border gate.
Be Tu, a woman, said she is a freelancer in HCM City. As her business has become unsatisfactory recently, she has decided to earn her living with gambling.
Everyday Tu takes bus to the Moc Bai border gate and then takes a taxi motorbike to the casino in Cambodia. Later of the day, she takes bus from Moc Bai to HCM City at 8 pm.
“I can earn $50 a day which is high enough to cover my basic needs and feed the family,” Be Tu said.
However, Tu has lost a house in district 8 in HCM City because she lost at gambling.
Tu said some 80 percent of Vietnamese gamblers go to the casino near the Moc Bai border gate.
The high demand from the Vietnamese like Be Tu has prompted foreign casino investors to seek their business opportunities in Vietnam.
Sheldon Adelson, President of Las Vegas Sands, has flown to Vietnam three times so far to seek business opportunities. During the latest trip to Vietnam, in late November, at the meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment, he once again affirmed his wish to develop two resort complexes with casinos in Hanoi and HCM City, worth $6 billion.
The trip has been described as an “active response” by the international investors’ community to the Decree No. 86 on the electronic games for foreigners in Vietnam.
However, the decree has once again, affirmed the Vietnamese government’s viewpoint that Vietnamese are not allowed to go to casinos, and that the casinos’ doors are open only to foreigners or Vietnamese with foreign passports.
This is clearly a big barrier that makes Sands hesitant in making investment decision. George Tanasijevich, CEO of Marina Bay Sands belonging to Sands Group also said the investment in a resort complex would much depend on the profit from casinos.
Since the Decree No.86 still puts a barrier to prevent Vietnamese from entering casinos, Be Tu and a lot of other people have to go to Cambodian casinos instead. Sources said that billions of dollars have been going out of the Vietnamese territory every year to serve the gambling.
Despite the Decree No. 86, foreign investors never give up hopes, because they understand the high demand of Vietnamese. Analysts have noted that foreign investors have taken one step ahead in anticipation of the opportunities which are believed to come, sooner or later.
Asian Coast Development Limited (ACDL) still continues its Ho Tram Strip project in Ba Ria – Vung Tau, capitalized at $4 billion, which is expected to get completed by 2020.
Hoang Dat Silver Shores Exceptional International Entertainment has poured $1.6 billion into Crowne Plaza Da Nang, a complex with a resort and casino.
vietnamnet
