Remove the barrier for online betting, opening up a billion-dollar sector

	Draft Decree to amend Decree No. 06/2017 / ND-CP: Removing bottlenecks for international football betting
	Scope is not expanded and list of permitted bets specified

If betting on the Internet is allowed and players outside the territory of Vietnam are also allowed to participate in betting, the sales will double. Illustrative photo.

Backward from the beginning

According to the latest market research report by the international organization Transparency Market Research, the total global revenue of the online betting market was US$48.9 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach US$134.5 billion by 2027.

This is a very high number for us to consider whether to participate in the share of this market or not. Because entertainment development is to look at the interests of a developing country like Vietnam, it is not the development of a business or an industry.

The development of rewarding entertainment will stimulate the tourism industry because many secondary investors, when there is a dog racing or horse racing followed up in hotels, eating services around these races to serve guests.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc My, Chairman of Vabis Group, reality shows that after the Covid-19 pandemic, this industry is still growing. This is why we need to discuss how to gain market share in the world betting market.

The post Covid-19 period may be an opportunity for Vietnam to provide services for the world, Vietnamese people manage according to Vietnamese law, foreigners manage according to international law, and promote the application of science and technology.

“Through its operations since 2002, SES Company – the only company allowed to bet on dog racing today – manages up to 20 types of sports betting with more than 17,000 betting games per month in 2019, to 2020 increase by about 14% / month.

In 2000, Vabis had a dog racing license, but until 2017, Decree 06/2017 / ND-CP on the betting of horse racing, dog racing and international football was newly built, allowing the licensing of horse racing and dog racing. However, the time of the license being written until its enactment lasted 15 years. Decree 06 has become obsolete, hindering businesses.

SES, when preparing to expand the terminal system and distributing betting tickets remotely in accordance with Decree 06, was unable to purchase the distribution system of tickets via telephone (both hardware and software) as such systems for distribution of bet tickets using switchboards and non-Internet messages are outdated in comparison to the development of 4.0 technology, so they are no longer in production.

According to calculations by some industry experts, after being allowed to distribute tickets over the phone, the betting market for horse racing, dog racing and international football can reach from US$100-200 million/year, while if they are allowed to use Internet technology on mobile phones, the revenue can be up to US$1-2 billion/year. Even if betting on the Internet is allowed and players outside the territory of Vietnam are allowed to participate, the sales will double within reach, added Mr. Nguyen Ngoc My.

Despite its great potential, the betting business is also concerned about potential risks of illegality, making it difficult to monitor and control. According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc My, it is not difficult to understand that if betting business is allowed through the Internet, players cannot be controlled. But that view is only true for the problem of contraband sports betting (most commonly football) due to illegal bookmakers with servers located overseas.

Need efforts to develop

Commenting on how to manage the online betting business, Mr. Doan Ngoc Xuan, Director of the Department of Social Affairs, Central Economic Committee said that after the WTO negotiations, Vietnam opened the door for integration, but we still cannot keep up with the world, losing economic share and many opportunities.

However, Covid-19 is an opportunity to look back at the problems that need correction. In terms of sports betting, it is clear that the state is very cautious, but when joining WTO, Vietnam has committed to open up 11 service industries.

“We need to agree that we must create an environment for businesses and have committed to opening up for integration. As for gambling, in my opinion this is the basis for growing tourism. This is an important constituent part and an inspiration for tourism to develop. Therefore, it is necessary to rethink how to do it, not to struggle forever, but to act responsibly and promptly. Technology helps us to control this well, this is an opportunity to answer management concerns, and policies must be developed. Digital technology is about simplifying transactions. State management must also manage numbers. If it is not impossible to manage, barriers will not be applied,” Mr. Doan Ngoc Xuan said.

According to surveys from 20 different countries, TS. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of the International Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), said that there are many ways in which we can learn from other countries. First, countries that are relatively limited in the form of online betting businesses and often only allow online betting have strict supervision regulations and conditions. Second, they have relatively strict regulations on enterprises allowed to bet on businesses, so not many businesses dare to register to participate because the charter capital is VND1,000 billion. Third, they have strict regulations on who can participate, citizens and permanent residents (foreigners) that are taxable, age to participate and conditions to participate.

According to TS. Can Van Luc, in Decree 06, it was clear that the betting business principle is conditional and strictly controlled by state agencies. However, it is advisable to remove the "discouraging development" but there are regulations that can help with control.

TS. Can Van Luc proposes betting cards like the Japanese side associated with tourism to stimulate tourism demand. In particular, we must upgrade the tripartite control, one is the ministry with the technology to supervise, the regulator upgrades its technology to manage and supervise, closely coordinating with the ministries and branches with each other (between the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Science and Technology) and the enterprise that is allowed to provide these services, that enterprise must meet the conditions in terms of technology and people, reporting and technology integration with regulators.