Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Cao grants the Thua Thien Hue Newspaper an interview. Photo: Phan Thanh
In the interview with the Thua Thien Hue Newspaper’s correspondent, Mr. Nguyen Van Cao said:
According to Decision No. 442 / QĐ-TTg dated April 24, 2018 by the Prime Minister on the policy of investment capital increase and casino business of Laguna Lang Co Project, Laguna Vietnam Co., Ltd. will increase charter capital from USD 175 million to USD 300 million and project investment capital from USD 875 million to USD 2 billion to supplement the operation of casino business and the investment in some construction items.
What do you think about the government's agreement to increase charter capital to USD 300 million and investment capital to USD 2 billion to supplement the operation of Casino business in Laguna Lang Co?
Thua Thien Hue is one of the localities that the Politburo planned to grant permission to establish a casino business. Since then, the Banyan Tree Group together with the province has been very active in setting up the project to upgrade the Laguna Lang Co tourism zone. The most positive move is to increase charter capital and investment capital as mentioned above.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, representatives of the ministries, sectors and provincial leaders in a working visit to Laguna Lang Co early 2018 concerning the casino investment here. Photo: Thai Binh
That the Government and ministries take capital increase into careful consideration, and agree to formulate the policy of casino investment affirms the great potential for tourism development in the Chan May-Lang Co area.
This is an area that can meet the conditions for casino business. At the same time, the Certificate affirms the investors’ potential and Laguna brand over the past five years thanks to their strong development in the region. This is the government's acknowledgement of the efforts made by the province, investors, and the potential of Laguna.
If the project is soon put into operation, what is its significance to the socio-economic development of the province? Do the local people benefit from this project, sir?
That this project is implemented and put into operation proves highly significant to the socio-economic development of the province. It is hard to attract a USD-2-billion investment project in Vietnam, and this is Thua Thien Hue's largest project ever.
The project will exert a positive impact on investment attraction, giving other investors more confidence in the Chan May - Lang Co area. It also reaffirms the Government's assessment of investment opportunities as well as investment potential of Chan May-Lang Co.
Further, the project confirms that the investors also see the potential and strengths of this area and therefore boldly increase capital to invest in a casino. As a result, the Laguna brand of Lang Co - Chan May will enjoy widespread popularity among tourists, thereby attracting more businesses and corporations to this area to look for investment opportunities.
A corner of Laguna Lang Co
The development project on such a large scale exerts a powerful influence on the socio-economic development and the growth of the province; particularly the budget revenue will certainly shoot up. For example, the number of rooms can be increased to 5,300 compared with only 350 present rooms; it is a big contribution to tourism, plus no small casino contribution to the budget.
Moreover, once the casino is located in the entertainment complex, more and more tourists will be attracted to Hue. Tourists will have more services to choose and enjoy. Concurrently, local people will benefit from business activities, sales, transportation and so on. The human resources for this USD-2-billion project alone are also enormous, creating a great number of jobs.
Next is the airline development. When there is a casino in Laguna, the province will certainly work with some partners to open direct flights to Hue. Encouragingly, the Ministry of Transport has decided to expand Phu Bai Airport in late 2018 with a new terminal capacity of up to 5 million passengers per annum, about quadruple larger than the current one. Along with the apron system, rolling tracks, take-off and landing tracks are methodically invested as well.
The casino development with a variety of entertainment sites and forms will make it possible for the Chan May-Lang Co economic zone to attract more foreign businesses and investors. Ocean liners also make longer stays for guests and crews. In combination with Lang Co Beach, Bach Ma Mountain will surely be a key tourism center of the country.
Thank you for your talk, sir.
By Thai Binh