The Foreign Investment Enterprises Association held a workshop in Hanoi on the afternoon of November 28 to gather comments on the draft amendment of Decree 06/2017/NĐ-CP on betting in horse racing, dog racing and international football1. The event was titled "Góp ý sửa đổi, bổ sung Nghị định 06/2017/NĐ-CP Về kinh doanh đặt cược đua ngựa, đua chó và bóng đá quốc tế"1. Tuổi Trẻ reported the workshop was organized by the association together with the magazine Nhà Đầu Tư2.
Decree 06/2017/NĐ-CP was issued on 24/1/20171. According to Nguyen Anh Tuan, vice chairman of the association, difficulties in applying it mean the decree "has not really entered into life"1. He said the National Assembly Standing Committee issued Resolution 1035/NQ-UBTVQH15 on 8/4/2024, tasking the government and the Ministry of Finance with completing the legal framework for lottery, betting, casinos and prize games, and that the amendment of Decree 06 must be finished by 2025 at the latest1.
Speakers put figures on the market. Can Van Luc, chief economist at BIDV, said worldwide sales of games and betting-related activity are 70 billion USD, forecast to reach 141 billion USD by 2030, a growth rate of 11,5%/năm1. He said a British company estimates Vietnam's betting revenue, formal and informal, at 3 to 5 percent of GDP1. Hoang Ngoc Nhat, chairman of Thien Phuc JSC, said 5 to 6 billion USD a year at minimum, and 9 to 10 billion USD at most, is spent on betting in Vietnam, most of it on football, and that most of this money flows abroad1.
Proposed changes discussed at the workshop included:
| Proposal | Source |
|---|---|
| Allow betting business nationwide once licensed, instead of 20 pilot provinces and cities | 1 |
| Grant eligibility certificates for all three distribution methods (on-track and off-track terminals, telephone, Internet) from the start | 1 |
| Allow Internet distribution, with one speaker proposing a pilot covering both Internet and in-person sales | 1 |
| Bar people who are bankrupt, owe unpaid debts, receive benefits or have broken the law, and set a player age | 1 |
| Permit betting on FIFA-system, continental and foreign leagues, with matches involving Vietnam allowed only when the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announces approval | 2 |
Iain Child, managing partner at Penta Investments, which handles betting business development for Fortuna Entertainment Group, said licensed operators should hold more than 80 percent of the betting market, and that player protection works through responsible-play measures and digital safeguards such as deposit limits and age verification1.
"Chúng tôi đã góp phần giảm được nạn cá cược đen tại 10 quốc gia châu Âu, với hơn 100 triệu dân. Chúng tôi kỳ vọng làm được việc này tại Việt Nam"
A 2022 TGMResearch survey cited at the workshop found 80 percent of sports bettors worldwide bet through the Internet or a mobile app, and that in Vietnam 91 percent of illegal bettors use those channels2.
What it means for players
Nothing changes yet. Decree 06/2017/NĐ-CP remains in force while the amendment is drafted, so the legal position of anyone betting in Vietnam is unchanged by the workshop1. The current rules restrict licensed betting business to a pilot set of 20 provinces and cities, and the draft under discussion would widen that to the whole country once a license is granted1. Distribution through mobile phones and the Internet is among the points being debated, with one participant arguing that restricting Internet sales is not defensible and another proposing a pilot covering both online and in-person channels1. Restrictions on who may bet, including a proposed age limit and exclusions for people in bankruptcy, with unpaid debts, receiving benefits or in breach of the law, were raised as suggestions, not adopted rules1. The scale of unlicensed betting described at the workshop, including the estimate that most of the 5 to 10 billion USD spent annually flows overseas, indicates enforcement and licensing have not displaced informal channels so far1.
What happens next
Resolution 1035/NQ-UBTVQH15 of 8/4/2024 sets a deadline of 2025 at the latest for completing the amendment of Decree 06/2017/NĐ-CP1. No date has been reported for publication of the revised decree or for any further consultation round.
