Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a casino to be included in the list of permitted facilities at a resort complex on Phu Quoc Island, off the southern province of Kien Giang, as well as a pilot scheme to allow Vietnamese nationals to gamble at the resort.

The casino, part of an integrated resort complex featuring ecotourism offerings, accommodation, commercial businesses, and a convention center, will be the first of its kind on the famed tourist island, Huynh Vinh lac, chief of the secretariat of the Kien Giang administration, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday afternoon.

The resort megaproject, spanning across the island’s Cua Can, Ham Ninh and Ganh Dau communes, is scheduled to open to the public in 2021.

With the addition of the casino, the total investment needed for the complex, developed by Phu Quoc Investment and Tourism Development JSC, will rise to VND50 trillion (US$2.15 billion).

The casino will be permitted to serve Vietnamese customers under a three-year pilot program effective from the day the project receives its casino operation license.

If everything goes as planned, the Phu Quoc casino will become the country’s first sanctioned gambling facility where Vietnamese citizens are allowed entry.  Currently, Vietnamese law only permits foreign players to enter casinos.

The casino business at the Phu Quoc resort complex is required to be in line with a decree on casino businesses issued in January 2017.

Specifically, Vietnamese people who wish to enter and gamble in a casino must least 21 years of age, and have full capacity for civil acts in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law.

Vietnamese customers are also expected to prove a regular income of VND10 million ($430) or more per month to play at the casino.

Players may only use Vietnamese dong to convert into the gambling currency and vice versa.

All entrance fees collected the casino shall be left to the locality for social welfare, serving the community, and ensuring security and social order under the guidance of the Ministry of Finance.

The Prime Minister also assigned the Kien Giang administration and relevant ministries and agencies to closely monitor the business activities of the casino, while ensuring social order and safety and security and defense in the locality.

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