New regulations legalise betting services

Previously, casinos were only open to foreign passport holders and gambling was illegal in Vietnam. The prime minister recently signed Decree 6 that allows eligible firms to sell tickets and provide betting services on horse and dog racing and betting on foreign football matches.

However, firms are not allowed to determine the time to start and end the betting and only Vietnamese dongs are allowed to use in betting. The decree also states that the government does not encourage the development of these services. The project is still in the pilot stages, and customers would be able to participate in legal football betting from March 31.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), there are many illegal betting services and the authorities don’t have enough personnel to manage and control these services. The MoF said those services could cause negative effects on social order and lead to the illegal transfer of money abroad.

The new regulations are expected to help the authorities better manage betting services. A new decree on casinos was also issued in January to attract investors into resorts projects and boost local tourism. The 3-year pilot programme allows Vietnamese to gamble in casinos.

The MoF said legal betting would satisfy ‘entertainment demand’, reduce illegal gambling sites and stop people spending money abroad.