NA committee visits southern casino to prepare for gambling decree   The Ho Trap Strip complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Tuoi Tre A National Assembly committee’s delegation paid a visit to a casino complex in southern Vietnam on Thursday in preparation for a decree regulating the gaming business to be approved later this year. The National Assembly Committee on Finance and Budget toured Ho Tram Strip, a US$4.2 billion luxury resort casino project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, and met with the operator, Ho Tram Project Company Ltd, to discuss the perfection of a legal framework for the sector. The operator complained that the government has yet to promulgate any decree or circular to guide it in running the casino even though the gambling component of the project already opened in July of last year. Colin Pine, the company’s director, expressed his worry over the absence of a legal document, which may deter punters from going to a casino. Clear regulations will serve as a solid basis to assure both the casino operator and its customers, Pine said. Vice chief of the committee Dinh Thinh Hai admitted that there remain such issues as money management, tax, and gambler admission as a result of a lack of specific governmental guidance. But Hai said that a decree on casino management will be completed and passed in the middle of this year. Differing opinions on allowing Vietnamese to gamble Meeting attendees also discussed the issue of whether Vietnamese should be permitted to gamble in domestic casinos while the government is considering a pilot project to lift a ban on local gamblers, who currently resort to gambling facilities in Cambodia and Singapore. Vietnam only allows foreigners to gamble in the handful of gaming parlors operating in the country now. Pine voiced his support for loosening the law to let Vietnamese gamble at home, but only beginning on a small scale, pointing out that they are flocking to Cambodian casinos at the moment. The government will have extra revenue by collecting tax from domestic gamblers and at the same time prevent the flow of foreign currencies to other countries once the ban is removed, the director said. Ho Van Nien, deputy chairman of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee, suggested that Vietnamese should be allowed to gamble at slot machines only. Playing at card tables should be considered later, Nien added. The deputy chairman noted that the government should ban civil servants, party members, and members of the armed forces in that case. An official told Tuoi Tre that he advocates relaxing the law but scrupulous attention must be given to the income and background of local gamblers. Hai, the NA committee’s vice chief, said that there are opposing stances on this issue in the National Assembly. Some have said Vietnamese should be permitted to gamble while others simply rebut it, he said. But Hai agreed that many Vietnamese are flying abroad for gambling and asserted that he will report the opinions at the meeting to higher-level authorities for consideration. Vietnam is losing as much as $800 million a year in tax revenue from Vietnamese who gamble in Cambodia, according to estimatesReuters cited earlier this month from an academic who said he was advising the government on liberalizing the local gaming industry. Over 35,800 people gambled at the Ho Tram casino from July last year to January this year, the operator Ho Tram Project Company Ltd said at the meeting with the National Assembly Committee on Finance and Budget. The casino raked in $5.5 million in revenue and paid $2.8 million in tax, it revealed. The investor, Vancouver-based Asian Coast Development Limited, has a license to build Ho Tram Strip into a luxury resort casino, with 541 hotel rooms, 90 card tables, and 1,000 slot machines inaugurated last July for the initial phase. It has disbursed a mere $520 million out of the committed $4.2 billion for the construction so far, according to official figures. TUOI TRE