Joint venture partners invest big in Vietnam

Two new multi-billion dollar casino resorts have been proposed for construction in Vietnam.

A joint venture between Hong Kong’s Choi Tai Fook Enterprises and Vietnamese investment and real estate firm Vina Capital will see work shortly commence on a $4bn (E3.57bn) property in Quang Nam province.

Meanwhile, according to a local online news service, former Las Vegas Sands Corp president Bill Weidner has been linked to another $4bn real estate project in Ho Chi Minh City (pictured). Whilst the nature of the property remains undisclosed, $4bn is the minimum international investment necessary to obtain a casino licence in Vietnam. Other US investor rumoured to be attached to the project include financiers Cantor Fitzgerald LP and architectural firm Steelman Partners.

The news comes on the back of recent criticism levelled at the Vietnamese authorities for setting the cost of licensure too high.

In an address to delegates at G2E Asia, managing director of Double Square Consulting Sam Sheng suggested that the current requirement in Vietnam was out of sync with the pervading market environment.

“Our argument is that for the current market conditions no more than $250 million is the investment that people are willing to take the risk to invest,” he remarked. “Unless you have all the rules and regulations in place with local gaming, the metro area etc, then you can ask for $4bn.”