Vietnam's casino industry has recently received clear signals of policy relaxation. The Ministry of Finance has issued an impact assessment report on a new decree draft aimed at revising and replacing the 2017 casino management regulations. The core change is to simplify the process for Vietnamese citizens to enter casinos, especially the "overly cumbersome" financial capability proof stage, aiming to reduce the burden for players and operators to adapt to the expanding local market.
Policy Revision Background: Five-year pilot shows effectiveness, cumbersome processes to be optimized
According to current regulations, Vietnamese citizens must meet several conditions to enter casinos: be at least 21 years old, have full civil capacity, purchase an admission ticket, prove financial capability, and not be on any self or family-requested exclusion list. Players need to exchange Vietnamese dong for chips, and unused or won chips can be refunded. The Ministry of Finance believes that this framework is basically effective in managing local participation.
The direct driving force for this legislative amendment comes from the five-year results of the Corona Resort Casino on Phu Quoc Island, which allowed Vietnamese people to enter. According to publicly available information organized by PASA's official website, during the pilot period (2019-2024), Vietnamese visitors accounted for 52% of the total number but contributed an astonishing 88% of the revenue, with the main customers being males aged 30 to 49. The pilot's success has proven the potential of the local market, but also highlighted the disadvantages of the current process—both players and casinos are troubled by preparing a pile of proof documents.
Core Change: Financial capability proof expected to be simplified, or entrance fee adjustment as a substitute
The most attention-grabbing revision point in the draft is aimed at this "troublesome" financial capability proof. Currently, players need to prepare various documents to prove their income or assets, a process that is quite lengthy. The Ministry of Finance admits that this has become a recurring obstacle, slowing down entry speed and increasing the complexity of casino operations.
Therefore, the new framework is exploring how to simplify this requirement. One possible approach is to adjust the threshold of the entrance fee to indirectly replace the complex document review, thus significantly reducing administrative burdens. Simply put, it uses clearer and more operable economic measures to achieve the same risk control and responsible gambling goals, making compliant entry smoother.
Market Status and Future: Three major integrated resorts lead, seeking balance between regulation and development
Currently, Vietnam has nine operating casinos, including three major integrated resorts located in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu Province, Quảng Nam Province, and Kiên Giang Province. Data shows that from 2017 to 2022, despite being severely impacted by the pandemic, total casino revenue still reached about 22.89 trillion Vietnamese dong (approximately $9.5 billion), contributing about 11.81 trillion Vietnamese dong to the national budget.
In addition to the permanently open project on Phu Quoc Island, Grand Ho Tram has also been approved for a five-year local customer source pilot. At the same time, the Quảng Ninh Province Yundun comprehensive tourism and entertainment project, with an investment of $2 billion and planned to be fully operational by 2032, will also apply a similar pilot mechanism. The Ministry of Finance's assessment report emphasizes that the purpose of this decree revision is to eliminate actual obstacles amid industry expansion, create a clearer regulatory environment, maintain supervision while reducing administrative burdens, and align casino governance with current market conditions and policy goals.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leader" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
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PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
