With the debate over whether Vietnamese punters should be permitted to gamble at home still ongoing and no progress has been made in the past year, an institute has conducted a survey to see if locals really want to be allowed to enter casinos in the country.

The survey concludes with a relatively positive result, as it shows that most of the 305 people polled approve of allowing local bettors to try their luck at home instead of going to Cambodia, the Institute of Regional Sustainable Development (IRSD) said at a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday.

There are now only eight licensed casinos in the Southeast Asian country, where merely foreign punters or foreign passport holders are allowed to enter.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed allowing Vietnamese residents to gamble at home as long as they are above 21 years of age and have adequate financial ability.

The IRSD asked the respondents to give their feedback on such a proposition, and found that 47.8 percent totally agree that Vietnamese should also be allowed to enter casinos in the country without any conditions, whereas 29.3 percent said they must meet some requirements to get the access.

The idea of allowing local bettors to gamble at home was objected to by 16.6 percent of the respondents, while 6.3 percent ticked the “Other” box.

Seventy-two percent of those who back the proposition of allowing Vietnamese to gamble at home said a casino is just a place of entertainment and there is no reason to ban locals from going there.

Twenty-three percent said going to gambling houses is the right of everyone.

Twenty-three percent of the proposal backers said Vietnamese punters can help contribute tax revenue to the state budget, and 17.7 percent believed local gamblers would no longer lose money to overseas casinos once they could play at home.

On the other hand, the naysayers said casinos may result in higher rates of social disorder, violence and crime.

The IRSD, under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, told the Wednesday conference that the gaming business is contributing a great amount to the state coffers and the tax revenue it generates will be even bigger if local bettors are allowed to take part.

The eight legal gambling houses in the country last year posted a revenue of VND1.37 trillion (US$61.56 million), while Vietnamese punters are losing money to illegal bookmakers or casinos in Cambodia, Singapore or Macau, according to the institute.

There are 57 casinos in Cambodia, 25 of which are located close to the border with the southern Vietnamese province of Tay Ninh, the IRSD said.

There is an average of 200 Vietnamese people crossing the border in Tay Ninh to enter Cambodia for gambling on a daily basis, and up to 800 on weekends, who mostly contribute to the $250 million annual gaming revenue of that country, according to the institute.

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Chuc, deputy head of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said Vietnam should permit locals to enter casinos and learn from the experience of Singapore to effectively manage these gamblers.

Adam Sitkoff, executive director of the AmCham Vietnam office in Hanoi, said Vietnam should consider opening the door to locals, adding American investors are very interested in taking part in the gaming sector.

Sitkoff said the best way to effectively manage casino operations is to legalize them, as proven by more than 1,000 casinos in the U.S.

But it remains a long way to go for Vietnamese punters to be allowed to gamble at home.

An official from the Ministry of Finance told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday the ministry is still learning from the experience of other countries to improve its proposal.

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