Hotels earn trillions of dong from gambling services

There are some 50 establishments that provide electronic games for prizes to foreigners in Vietnam. The revenue from the services has been increasing steadily. The figure was VND5 trillion in 2011.
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In 1992, the government released an important decision on allowing to set up a casino for foreigners in the sea city of Hai Phong, the first of its kind in Vietnam. No casino was licensed before, since gambling was prohibited in Vietnam.
Licensing gambling services remained a very “sensitive issue” in Vietnam in the years after 1992, which explained why only in 2003, or 11 years later, did the Prime Minister released the Decision No. 32 stipulating the business activities of the establishments providing electronic games for prizes to foreigners in Vietnam.
Under the decision, the enterprises which have the demand to provide the services must apply for the licenses to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, which would then submit the projects to the Prime Minister for consideration.
To date, providing electronic games for prizes has been listed as a kind of business not encouraged in Vietnam. Therefore, service providers have to pay the special consumption tax (luxury tax), corporate income tax and other kinds of tax as stipulated by the laws.
It is estimated that 50 service providers have been licensed so far, which can be classified into three groups.
The first group comprises of the enterprises providing electronic games on machines. These are the 43 establishments located at the 3-4-5 star hotels and some tourist sites, mostly in Hanoi and HCM City.
The second one includes the six enterprises providing prize games. They provide games on machines and on a certain number of game tables. The Ho Tram project in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province, for example, has 180 tables and 2,000 machines which would be put into operation when the construction finishes. Silver Shores Hoang Dat in Da Nang City has eight tables and 100 machines
The third group is the one which only provide casino service. To date, there has been only one of this kind – the Hai Phong International Tourism joint venture. Bacarat, Blackjack, Roulette, PaiGow, slot machines are the most popular games at the establishments.
The only difference between the games of the first and the games of the second and third ones is that the games are regulated by electronic equipments. Meanwhile, all of them have similar game rules.
Service providers pocket trillions of dong
A report by the Ministry of Finance showed that the revenue from prize electronic games has been increasing steadily in recent years of about 10-15 percent per annum.
In 2011, the total turnover of the services reached VND5 trillion. The establishments in the south reportedly have higher revenues and higher growth rates than that in the northern and central regions. It is estimated that each of the service providers reaped a profit of VND20 billion.
The Ministry of Finance has noted that though the number of service providers granted is relatively high, the business efficiency remains modest. Especially, they have not helped develop tourism as expected.
The loosened management over the services has led to the fact that Vietnamese people also enter the establishments, even though the establishments also admit foreigners. Six establishments have been prosecuted so far for letting Vietnamese people play the games here.
In 2007, the government decided to halt the licensing to the services until a new legal framework is promulgated.