Vietnam to tighten electronic gaming services licensing
25/8/2008 17:00
Only five-star hotels in Vietnam's Hanoi capital and southern Ho Chi Minh
City, and four-star hotels elsewhere will be allowed to provide electronic
gaming services, local newspaper Vietnam Investment Review today quoted a
proposal of the country's Ministry of Planning and Investment as
reporting.
Now, four-star hotels in the two cities and three-star hotels in
other localities are qualified to provide electronic gaming services.
The
proposal states that the number of electronic gaming locations should be
restricted to no more than 20 in Ho Chi Minh City, 15 in Hanoi, five in Hai
Phong, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, Thua Thien Hue, Khanh Hoa and Ba Ria Vung Tau each,
and two in other cities and provinces.
The ministry also proposed the number
of gaming machines at ach service-providing location no more than 100, against
existing service providers' desire to remove such limit at their
locations.
"The restriction of licenses is in line with governmental control
over gambling. It will help prevent rivalry among service providers in the same
cities or provinces, and prevent them from attracting Vietnamese people to
gamble," said the proposal which is pending the final approval of Vietnamese
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
By the end of last year, 48 enterprises,
including 33 foreign- invested ones had valid licenses to provide electronic
gaming services at 53 locations across 17 cities and provinces. Ho Chi Minh City
took the lead with 14, followed by Hanoi with eight. In March, a Canadian firm
was licensed to build a tourist complex, including casinos in southern Ba Ria
Vung Tau province at total investment of over US$4.2 billion.
Prior to 2003,
all forms of gambling, except the state-run lottery service, were illegal in
Vietnam. Since the year, the Vietnamese government has allowed a number of big
hotels in the country to electronic gambling services which are restricted to
foreign passport holders.
Xinhua
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