The gaming industry in Viet Nam will usher in a major change and, in order to ensure strict regulation of betting, the Vietnamese Government is pushing for reforms requiring all people involved in football, horse racing and dog racing to provide complete personal information when opening accounts. This is aimed at bringing domestic legislation into line with global financial regulatory standards, for which the Ministry of Justice has proposed specific programmes, while the Government is drafting new legislation to replace the old 2017 regulations.
Under the new framework, the anonymity of the previously random bets will cease to exist. The Ministry of Finance of Viet Nam has adopted the Ministry of Justice ‘ s recommendation, which specifies that the person making the bet is required to submit complete personal information, including full name, date of birth, nationality, occupation, mobile phone number and permanent and temporary address. The Ministry of Justice emphasizes that this information is not only used for filing, but is also a key initiative for the implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2022. Despite a consensus among the various branches of the Vietnamese Government on enhanced identification, there is still a heated debate over the ceiling on the amount of investment by citizens. The Ministry of Science and Technology has advocated a substantial increase in the limit, and has proposed that the ceiling for the individual’s daily be raised to 100 million VND (approximately US$ 3800) or that a limit of 10 million VND be set for the individual type of product. The central consideration is that an increase in the limits would enhance the competitiveness of licensed lottery enterprises and illegal operators, which typically attract large numbers of users with no ceilings. The Ministry of Finance of Viet Nam, however, categorically opposed the proposal and insisted on maintaining the current standards. The new draft also locks the upper limit of a person’s daily bet on a single licensed operator at VND 10 million. Officials of the Ministry of Finance stressed that the legal lottery should be strictly characterized as a recreational activity rather than as a financial speculation instrument, and cited as a basis for decision-making the annual income of approximately $5,000 per capita in Viet Nam. The Ministry considers the current quota to be in line with the economic affordability of the population, with the aim of preventing excessive gambling from affecting social order and public safety.
The Government of Viet Nam, however, has also acknowledged that it is too single to attract capital investment with the type of investment available. The current provisions allow only open competitions to be held with FIFA, with only four to eight major events per year in which there is a legitimate investment. The revised draft has considerably broadened the scope of the event to include comments from the Ministry of Public Security and feedback from investors. The new regulations will cover top-level professional competitions sponsored by UEFA, AAFC, CONMEBOL and CONACAF, and will be included in national leagues and cups for the football powers of England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Brazil and Argentina. The aim is to activate the market potential of the Vietnamese fans’ fanatical pursuit of these leagues.
Viet Nam ‘ s openness to international football betting will be approached with caution. The draft envisages pilot projects that will initially open the market to up to three licensed enterprises. In view of the sensitivity of the industry to public order and anti-money-laundering efforts, the Government of Viet Nam has decided not to open its licence plates fully.