Sydney Morning Herald – Casino operator Donaco International has cleared the final regulatory hurdle in its bid to open a new hotel and gaming property in the North of Vietnam, pitched at Chinese gamblers in the bordering Yunnan province. The company is run by Joey and Ben Lim who are nephews of casino magnate K.T. Lim, the founder of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad. Genting Hong Kong, which is part of Mr Lim’s empire, has a strategic stake in casino operator Echo Entertainment Group. The young pair have been successful in selling their vision to local fund managers of new casinos…

Calvin Ayre – James Packer, boss of Australian casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd., has asked his country’s government to revise their tourist visa policies to make it easier for Chinese high rollers to visit his casinos. Packer told the Herald Sun that it was “hypocritical” for the government to maintain visa requirements that make it harder for wealthy Chinese to enter the country than wealthy Americans. Packer, who believes the rising clout of Chinese consumers will “profoundly aspect every aspect of our economy,” said it was “stupid” that “visa applications are done in English, not Mandarin.” Packer also complained that…

Vietnam’s go-ahead for locals to enter one of the country’s casinos for a trial period has set off a rat race to lure gaming investors in a country where local leaders have been chiefly judged by economic growth rates alone. In August 2013, the Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo allowed Vietnamese meeting certain criteria to gamble in a casino to be built in the Van Don Economic Zone in Quang Ninh Province bordering China. Vietnamese tycoon Dao Hong Tuyen and US firm ISC Corporation are investing in the US$7.5 billion project that includes a casino, marinas, a convention center and golf…

It’s “80 to 90 percent certain” that citizens would be allowed to gamble in big Vietnam casino resorts in that country within “two to three years”, said a speaker at the Macao Gaming Summit. Currently only foreigners or Vietnamese with overseas passports are legally allowed to gamble in the 13 or so establishments of varying size that are unofficially classified collectively as ‘casinos’. “At that time Vietnamese will be allowed to play in Van Don and Ho Tram – not in small casinos,” said Augustine Ha Ton Vinh, who describes himself as an advisor to the Vietnamese government. He was…

From Thanh Nien News – Unlike Singapore, Vietnam does not have what it takes to become a major gambling destination, experts say. The five-star casino-resort The Grand – Ho Tram Strip, which opened on July 26  in Vung Tau as part of a US$4.2-billion tourist development aimed at attracting foreign visitors, has become the sixth casino in Vietnam. A casino-building spree seems looming across the country, where entry barriers for foreign investors are much higher than in neighboring countries, as the government looks to significantly boost tourism and tax revenues amid the economic crisis. Vietnam has been on the interest…