The Grand Ho Tram, a Vietnam coastal resort that currently has a foreigner-only casino (pictured), has been approved to serve local gamblers that meet an income test.
The news – stemming from a national government decision taking effect on Wednesday (November 26) and valid as part of a five-year pilot – was affirmed to GGRAsia by the Grand Ho Tram’s management. The permission for locals play comes into effect from the date a relevant casino business eligibility certificate is issued by the authorities.
It was separately reported on Wednesday by Vietnam media, that permission was also issued on Wednesday for locals play at “casinos” on Phu Quoc, an island off Vietnam’s southwest coast that is part of Kien Gang province.
A pilot scheme activated in 2019 for locals play at Corona Resort & Casino, at Phu Quoc, lapsed on January 1 this year.
In September, local media had reported that the Grand Ho Tram, southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, was one of several casino properties in that nation that might be newly-allowed to offer gambling to economically-qualified locals.
Local media had cited a draft document, and a plan by the Ministry of Finance.
In May, the The Grand Ho Tram held a ground breaking ceremony for what its promoters said was a new 35-hectare [86.5-acre] development at the complex “with a total investment of over US$1 billion”.
The project is said to feature a “five-star hotel, luxury resort villas, entertainment amenities, and an international convention and exhibition centre,” according to an update on social media.
Vietnam’s Sun Group said in August that it had been selected by the country’s authorities as the investor for a US$2-billion resort scheme at Van Don, Quang Ninh, on the northern coast, which will be permitted to have a “high-class casino”.
The casino would “allow Vietnamese citizens to participate under a carefully regulated policy,” said the promoter at the time.
(Updated 9.10am, Nov 27)
