Politburo approves extension of Phú Quốc casino pilot

The Vietnamese government issued Resolution No. 8/2025/NQ-CP on November 26, 2025, allowing eligible Vietnamese citizens to enter casinos at several casino business projects¹. The resolution permits eligible Vietnamese citizens to enter the casino at the Phú Quốc casino project in An Giang Province from November 26, and takes effect the same day³.

The resolution also pilots Vietnamese citizen entry at the Hồ Tràm casino project in HCM City for five years from November 26, and at the Vân Đồn project in Quảng Ninh Province for five years from the date a certificate of eligibility for casino business operations is issued³. At the end of the pilot period, the Hồ Tràm and Vân Đồn projects must stop allowing eligible Vietnamese citizens to enter casinos until a competent authority issues conclusions in line with the law on casino business operations³. Management of Vietnamese entrants and casino operations at these projects must comply with Decree No. 03/2017/NĐ-CP or any amended, supplemented or replaced documents³.

The pilot dates back to 2016, when the Politburo approved a three-year program permitting Vietnamese citizens to gamble at casinos in Phú Quốc and Vân Đồn⁴. Only Phú Quốc's casino began operations, in January 2019, with the pilot scheduled to conclude in January 2022⁴. In 2022 the Ministry of Finance proposed extending the pilot by two additional years at Phú Quốc, citing the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on casino operations and limited trial results⁴. In May 2024 the Politburo approved extending the Phú Quốc pilot until the end of 2024⁴, and the government issued Decree No. 145/2024/NĐ-CP on November 4, 2024, amending Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree No. 03/2017/NĐ-CP⁴. Under that decree, the first licensed casino business had its pilot extended until December 31, 2024, while other pilot casinos would run three years from the date of business certification⁴.

Nine casinos operate in Vietnam, including six small-scale casinos in Đồ Sơn (Hải Phòng), Lợi Lai, Hoàng Gia and Hồng Vận Hotel (Quảng Ninh), International Hotel (Lào Cai) and Silver Shores (Đà Nẵng), and three large-scale casinos in Nam Hội An (Quảng Nam), Hồ Tràm (Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu) and Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang)⁴. Phú Quốc's Corona Casino, developed by Phú Quốc Tourism Investment and Development JSC, has operated since 2019 within a complex with total investment exceeding VNĐ50 trillion (US$1.97 billion), and was previously the only casino allowing Vietnamese citizens to gamble⁴. The sources differ on the province named for Phú Quốc: the 2024 reports place it in Kiên Giang⁴, while the 2025 resolution reports place it in An Giang³.

What it means for players

Vietnamese citizens who meet the eligibility conditions set out in the resolution can now enter the casinos at Phú Quốc, Hồ Tràm and Vân Đồn, subject to Decree No. 03/2017/NĐ-CP³. The resolution does not set out the eligibility criteria themselves, and those have not been reported. Entry at Hồ Tràm and Vân Đồn is time-limited: both must stop admitting eligible Vietnamese citizens when their pilot periods end unless a competent authority concludes otherwise³. Foreign visitors and expats are not the subject of the pilot, which concerns Vietnamese citizens only⁴.

What happens next

The Hồ Tràm pilot runs five years from November 26, 2025, and the Vân Đồn pilot five years from the date its certificate of eligibility for casino business operations is issued³. Vân Đồn is not yet open, and its pilot begins once the casino becomes operational⁴. No decision beyond those periods has been reported.

For more on casino rules in the country, see Can I Gamble in Vietnam? and New and Planned Casinos in Vietnam.