National Assembly wants to legalise gambling for locals

National Assembly wants to legalise gambling for locals

Two deputy chairs of the National Assembly have said that the government should issue a regulation soon that would lift the ban on gambling for Vietnamese citizens.

Inside a casino

At a meeting on April 17, the minister of finance, Dinh Tien Dung, said they had adjusted several points in the draft degrees on casinos, but that the regulation allowing only foreigners to gamble remains intact. Dung went on to say that they will do independent research on the legalisation of gambling for Vietnamese people at the request of the Politburo.

Nguyen Van Hien, Chairman of the NA Justice Committee, criticised the Ministry of Finance for being slow and expressed his support for the Politburo’s suggestion. He said, “Vietnamese people have been going to Cambodia, Hongkong and Macao to gamble. This issue is sensitive but not so much so that we can’t address it.”

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Vice Chairwoman of the NA, and Uong Chu Luu, Vice Chairman, also agreed with Hien that current laws do not benefit state budget.

On contrary, the head of NA Council of Ethnic Affairs, Ksor Phuoc, pointed out that countries which allow gambling also have certain problems that arise. In the US, the casino system was built in Nevada desert. Hongkong and Macao are separate special economic zones of China. Singapore is a small country but mostly considered a transit point for the region, so it has millions of foreign residents.

“We can try pilot programmes, but we need stricter regulations first because management of tax and income is still difficult in Vietnam,” he added, “I’m not sure if the goal is to increase state budget and jobs, but our security capability is currently weak. Another problem that worries me is money laundering.”

At the end, NA vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said in principle they would agree to a pilot programme which would allow locals to gamble. After the government does enough research, the ministries will be assigned to build legal frameworks and regulations.

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