As it works through the process of legalizing specific types of gambling, the government for Vietnam has announced plans to trial some forms of online and land-based sportsbetting while permitting wagering on horse and dog races.
According to a report from the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper, the revelations came as part of the second draft of proposed legislation that could be set to receive the consent of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc by the end of the year or early in 2017.
As well as containing a provision that would see locals allowed to gamble at two casinos over a three-year trial period, the draft decree could permit Vietnam nationals over the age of 21 and “in good civil standing” to wager on horse and dog races. The newspaper reported that this age restriction has increased by three years since the initial proposal was submitted with the latest provisions additionally establishing the minimum bet amount at $0.45.
The Vietnam Economic Times additionally explained that the proposed legislation would set the maximum amount a player would be allowed to wager in any one day at just over $45 while permitting land-based operators that had successfully completed a one-year probationary period to distribute betting slips via terminals and mobile telephones.
The proposed gambling legislation was first suggested ten years ago with its latest version due to moreover prohibit those related to jockeys, monitoring body members, professional football players, arbitrators and managers of betting establishments and from placing sports wagers.
The Vietnam Economic Times reported that the second draft of the proposed legislation also contains a provision that would establish a five-year trial for online and land-based wagering on foreign games of soccer with licensed betting shops required to be located at least 1,640 feet from schools and playgrounds. The proposition would additionally see the Asian nation’s Ministry Of Finance tasked with coordinating with the relevant government departments and agencies in order to oversee the pilot program and set specific opening hours and clear procedures designed to minimize complaints.
The newspaper stated that a number of foreign and domestic investors are now set to enter Vietnam’s proposed horse and dog racing industry including South Korean firm G.O.Max I&D Company, which is allegedly ready to spend upwards of $570 million to build a horseracing facility in Vinh Phuc Province north of Hanoi. June saw the Australian Golden Turf Club Limited Company receive a license for a planned $100 million racecourse in Phu Yen Province while Hong Kong’s Matrix Holding Limited Company has proposed spending a minimum of $45 million on a similar complex for the central city of Da Nang.
These investments continued in August when the local Hanoi Tourist Corporation and South Korea’s Global Consultant Network Company Limited inked a $500 million investment cooperation deal for the building of a five-star complex in the Soc Son district of Hanoi that is reportedly set to incorporate a horseracing track as well as a golf course, hotel and retail quarter.