Vietnam gets the gambling bug
At a time when the Vietnamese government is reaping publicity for its
drive
to crack down on underground casinos, it is quietly moving to expand
legal
gambling. In early June, two state-owned hotels in Ho Chi Minh City--the
historic Rex Hotel and the First Hotel--obtained licences to install
slot
machines on their premises.
The machines can only be legally played by
foreigners and ethnic Vietnamese with foreign passports. While Hanoi has
previously allowed a Taiwanese-owned casino to operate in the northern
beach
resort of Do Son and permitted more than a dozen joint-venture hotels
around
the country to operate slot machines, this is the first time the
privilege
has been granted to state-owned hotels. Besides pumping more money into
local and national coffers, the gambit aims to meet the "entertainment
needs" of potential foreign investors in other businesses in Vietnam,
according to a Finance Ministry official. The move comes as the
government
continues a drive to close illegal gambling dens affiliated with local
organized crime and allegedly protected by some police.
The Far Eastern Economic Review - June 27, 2002
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