Vietnam wises up on sports betting

The success of other Asian nations such as Singapore in the controlled introduction of strictly regulated gambling may have persuaded the Vietnamese government to reconsider its previously negative position on sports betting.

On Monday the Finance Ministry said it plans to legalise the pastime under rigorous regulatory requirements, reports he Wall Street Journal.

Hanoi’s Finance Ministry said that legalising and regulating betting on soccer matches and other sporting events would help limit the social damage caused by illegal operations taking advantage of the lack of a regulatory system.

Minister for Finance Vuong Dinh Hue led a delegation of officials on a fact-finding mission to Singapore over last weekend, where it met with members of the city state’s gaming board and studied the successful handling of betting by government regulation. On Monday, following the visit, he said that his department would now commence planning to submit plans to legalise sports betting in Vietnam.

The Journal notes that Vietnam is but one of several Asian country’s that have been impressed by Singapore’s success.

Only foreign nationals are presently premitted to gamble in Vietnam’s casino resorts.