2 new casinos proposed for foreigners

The casinos would be built at entertainment and resort complex Sun World Ba Na Hills in Da Nang City and Hon Tre Island in Khanh Hoa Province, it said in the proposals it has forwarded to the government.

The two locations have large tourism potential and are especially attractive to foreign visitors, it added.

Da Nang has no major casino yet, while Khanh Hoa has received approval to build a casino and resort complex in KN Paradise in Cam Ranh, and construction is ongoing.

But the ministry refused to back a proposal to build a casino by the central province of Binh Thuan, deeming its tourism potential low and pointing to its lack of port or airport.

The ministry also recommended the extension of a trial program allowing Vietnamese to gamble at the Phu Quoc Casino until 2024.

With gambling considered a "social evil" in Vietnam, locals have only been allowed to enter the casino since the end of 2018 in a trial program originally meant to last three years.

But the finance ministry is now seeking to extend it since casinos were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years.

The Phu Quoc Casino saw revenue grow by 9.5 percent in 2019 and 2020 before falling by 10 percent in 2021.

Vietnam has nine casinos, including three major ones on Phu Quoc Island in Kien Giang Province, Quang Nam Province and Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.

All nine lost money last year.