VietNamNet Bridge – Asian Coast Development Ltd (ACDL), the Canadian investor of the mammoth $4.2 billion Ho Tram resort project, has stated that it received the new investment license on April 4. ACDL’s Managing Director Nathan Lloyd said this was a “great day” of the project.

What will come to Ho Tram in the post-MGM period?

Government licenses Las Vegas-modeled casino

One month ago, MGM Resorts International (MGM), the manager of the Ho Tram resort project, announced its decision to withdraw from the project. Analysts made a wild guess that the big guy made such a decision because ACDL could not obtain the license for the investment items it promised with MGM.

Talking about the new investment license, the managing director of ACDL said the new license has confirmed the investment items written down in the license granted in March 2008, and confirmed some changes with the approved investment items.

There would be 180 dealer tables and 2,000 electronic gambling machines for foreign gamblers. In the immediate time, ACDL would put 541 hotel rooms, 90 dealer tables and 500 machines into operation.

The representative of ACDL has affirmed that there is no change with its investment plan.

What are the differences in the newly granted license and the one granted in March 2008, then?

The old license said the project, expecting to cover an area of 164 hectares, would comprise of 5 areas and some basic items such as 5-star hotels with 9,000 rooms, conference center area, golf courses, shopping malls, theatre and casino for foreigners.

The noteworthy thing here is that ACDL can only open its casino with 1,000 electronic gambling machines and 90 dealer tables after the 5-star hotels and relating items get completed and become operational.

At present, ACDL only has 541 hotel rooms, 90 dealer tables and 500 machines, and it has got the operation license already.

The investment license granted in March 2008 clearly stipulates that by the end of 2014, the license granter would inspect the project implementation. If the number of hotel rooms to be built and put into operation is less than 9,000, the competent agencies would cut down the number of dealer tables in casino (2 tables per 100 rooms).

As such, ACDL would have one more year ahead to build 8,000 hotel rooms more.

A reliable source has said that the amended investment license only requires the investor to have 1,000 hotel rooms by 2015. If the investor cannot fulfill the commitment, it would have to run the casino with 2 tables per every 100 rooms.

This is obviously an “exceptional rule” applied by the state management agencies to the “special investor” of the Ho Tram project.

As such, the most “sensitive issue” of the Ho Tram project has been settled. The question now is when the investor would put the project into operation.

Another question has also been raised that if MGM would return as the resort complex manager.

Meanwhile, Nathan Lloyd told Gambling Compliance that ACDL has had some alternatives and all of them are active.

International experts said they can see the high possibility of MGM returning to the Ho Tram project. When “saying goodbye” to ACDL in March 2013, the company promised to stay with ACDL until June 2013, when ACDL finds another manager.

Especially, doubts have been raised about the actual reason behind the statement of MGM to withdraw from Vietnam. The statement was made just to put a hard pressure on the Vietnamese management agencies?

DNSG