Hanoi (VNS/VNA)- As a three-year pilot programme allowing Vietnamese people to gamble at acasino on Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang is set tofinish by the end of this year, the Ministry of Finance has asked for atwo-year extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic badly affecting the casinobusiness over the last two years.

Earlier, the Kien Giang People’s Committee had also asked for theextension.

Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that theministry asked for approval from the Politburo to extend the programme untilthe end of 2024.

“The COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years has had a greatimpact on Vietnam’s production, hospitality and tourism, particularly thecasino business,” Chi said, adding that during social distancing, fewforeigners could enter Vietnam while Vietnamese people were also restrictedfrom going out except for urgent situations.

“To properly evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot programme,it’s necessary to extend the programme two more years,” Chi said.

According to the ministry, under the pilot programme, the casinoon Phu Quoc served 240,560 customers from 2019 to 2021, of which Vietnameseaccounted for 65%.

In 2019 and 2020, revenue from casino business grew well, about9.5% per year. From 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, revenuedropped sharply. Casino business results in 2021 were a loss of 1.14 trillionVND.

The Phu Quoc casino has helped create 2,000 jobs and it has paid 1.73trillion VND (71.7 million USD) in taxes to state coffers.

Local clients have spent 141 billion VND (5.85 million USD) onentrance tickets.

There are nine casino projects in Vietnam with six small ones in HaiPhong, Quang Ninh, Lao Cai and Da Nang and three major casinos in Hoi An ofQuang Nam province, Ho Tram of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province and Phu Quoc of KienGiang province.

Phu Quoc casino is one of only two casinos open to Vietnamese in atrial programme in the country.

The other, located in Van Don district of northern Quang Ninh province,has not been approved for investment.

According to the Ministry of Finance, casino developmentassociated with large-scale general service, tourism, commerce andentertainment zones is appropriate. This includes the pilot programme forVietnamese people to play in casino.

With a cautious view, this pilot programme does not affectsecurity, social order and safety, meets the entertainment needs of the people,contributes to increasing state budget revenue, and promotes localsocio-economic development. The casino business also creates jobs for localworkers.

For many years, Vietnamese citizens were banned from enteringcasinos.

Prof. Ha Ton Vinh, who advised and proposed allowing Vietnamesepeople play in casino in the country, said that the proposal to extend thepilot period for two more years at Phu Quoc casino was suitable.

The pilot programme brought many benefits, including revenue anddata for management to know about casino service users, he said.

“Thanks to the pilot programme, the Government will have suitablesolutions to strictly manage casino business activities, without disruptingsocial order. But at the same time, the policy also needs to better meet theneeds of investors in large-scale casino complexes,” he said.

"To meet the needs of domestic players, besides Phu Quoccasino, there are still many large-scale casinos across the country that can bepiloted for Vietnamese people to play, such as Ho Tram casino or Nam Hoi Ancasino,” he said, adding that such casino investors also want to receiveVietnamese players.

Vo Chi Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand Development andCompetition, said that there have been many studies evaluating casinos.

“There is an argument that if we do not allow Vietnamese people toplay, they will take money abroad to play and there are many consequences,” hesaid.

"We can learn from the management experience of countrieslike Singapore to limit the risks of gambling games,” he said./.