The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance has recently issued a draft decree on betting and gambling businesses and is seeking the opinion of the public and approval of the prime minister.
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| At least VND1 trillion required for a horse racecourse (Illustrative photo) |
Under the draft decree, enterprises would be entitled to accept wagers on horse and dog races as well as football matches when they have a business license. Besides football, the Ministry of Finance will submit guidelines for betting on other sports to the prime minister for approval as well.
According to the draft decree, betting would be a conditioned business area closely controlled by the state to ensure social security and order. Therefore, enterprises would need to have a business license to accept bets and operate.
Firms which hold horse and dog races and join betting businesses would be allowed to operate under the form of limited or joint stock companies. They would also be required to map out projects on racecourse construction and equipment and machine installation serving racing and betting activities. A minimum capital for building a horse racecourse was proposed to be VND1 trillion (USD50 million) and the figure is at least VND300 billion (USD15 million) for a dog racecourse. The maximal time for the construction and equipment installation is four years. Investors would need to improve their financial capacity to ensure the project’s implementation pace.
Racecourse planning
Meeting the prime minister’s requirements on racecourse planning is also a decisive factor to ensure that the above mentioned projects would be licensed. Currently, the planning has not yet been established.
After completing racecourse construction and equipment installation, companies would have to work out appropriate betting business plans, including self-assessment on their socio-economic impact. The Finance Ministry would then appraise these impacts.
Licensing football betting would also be subject to certain criteria. Firms would have to seek approval from the ministries of Public Security, Culture, Sports and Tourism, Planning and Investment and other concerned ministries and agencies as well as people’s committees for their betting business activities.
A maximum daily bets
According to the decree, companies would only be permitted to accept wagers on horse and dog races for three days per week in each racecourse including international races which would be in a event list issued by the Ministry of Finance.
Football betting would have to follow the schedule of matches and tournaments. The ministries of Finance and Culture, Sports and Tourism have issued a list of international football tournaments for pilot betting businesses.
The draft also states that VND10,000 (USD5) would be the minimum bet and VND1 million (USD50) per person per day would be the maximum betting allowance (meaning 100 bets maximum per day).
The decree also stipulates that the rate of the minimum bonus payment for betting businesses would be equal to 65% of revenues from sold tickets. For horse and dog races, the bonus is only paid under revenues from bet tickets. Meanwhile, for football betting, the payment will be made based on revenues or on a fixed level.
| Tran Huu Huynh, Head of the Legal Department under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said the state allowed businesses to open dog racecourses in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. This showed that both companies and people care about this entertainment service. However, it is vital to issue regulations and specific planning to tighten control over betting business activities. The government has learned from experiences and many sectors were managed loosely at first then faced tightened management. |
