Vietnam ministries oppose casino capex changes: report

Sep 06, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Two Vietnamese government ministries have reportedly expressed opposition to a proposal by the Ministry of Finance to relax the way of measuring the US$2-billion capital investment required to get a licence for a large-scale casino resort in that country.

The opposition is from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the Ministry of Defence, according to the Vietnam Investment Review news outlet.

Another outlet, VnExpress, had previously reported that capital investment in other projects in special administrative economic zones (SAEZs) – or infrastructure projects linked to such zones – would be taken into account when calculating the minimum capital an investor must disburse in a large-scale casino project.

That report mentioned that the proposed change might be of particular help to the Van Don district. The latter is a rural community in Quang Ninh province in northeast Vietnam. Sun Group – described as one of the country’s biggest real estate firms – is reportedly developing a casino resort in Van Don.

According to Vietnam Investment Review, the Ministry of Defence was concerned that such assistance applied to Van Don would create unfair completion relative to existing licensed casino projects.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is said to have a expressed a similar view, also noting that transport infrastructure projects should be considered “holistically” as the news report put it, not only in relation to places with casino projects.

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