MoU signed for $1.5bn Vinh Phuc racetrack

                                                Photo: Duc Anh/Le Toan/Illustration

South Korean investor seeks to move forward with racecourse project as second draft decree on gambling submitted to government.

South Korea’s G.O.Max I&D Company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on December 27 with the Vinh Phuc Provincial People’s Committee to build a $1.5 billion entertainment complex, including a racecourse, in the northern province.

The project will be an international-class racecourse and a sports and entertainment complex and include the racetrack, a 72-hole golf course, a luxurious villa complex, a sports and entertainment area, an equestrian center and polo club, and housing and villas, located on 750 ha.

The racetrack will cover around 200 ha, with race meetings held three times a week, and stables and training paddocks will also be built. The developer also hopes to open 70 betting shops in 54 cities and provinces throughout the country and an online betting system and horse breeding and training facilities.

Once completed, the racecourse will be the largest of its kind in Vietnam.

The South Korean developer first submitted the proposal for the mega project around ten years ago, with total investment then estimated at $570 million. It was then submitted to related authorities and received widespread support, but failed to proceed as Vietnam still had no legal framework for betting on horse and dog racing.

Work restarted following the news that the Vietnamese Government will release a new decree allowing gambling on horse and dog racing and international football matches.

In the latest news, a second draft decree has been forwarded to the government on allowing gambling on horse and dog racing and international football matches.

Gamblers must be over 21 years of age and be of good civil standing. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) will coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to propose and submit to the government a pilot program on gambling on international football matches, which is not to exceed five years. The MoF must also prepare clear provisions to minimize complaints.

In July the Dai Nam JSC invested $100 million in a racing complex at the Dai Nam Tourism Park in southern Binh Duong province.

More recently, the Hanoi Tourist Corporation and South Korea’s Global Consultant Network Company Limited (GCN) signed an investment agreement that could bring a $500 million five-star complex in Hanoi’s Soc Son district that would include a horse racetrack.

Other investors are also awaiting the green light from authorities before moving ahead on their projects.

by Hong Nhung / VET