Vietnam is considering raising the cap on sports betting wagers after noting improvements in citizen’s personal finances over the past few years.

According to local media, the country’s Ministry of Finance has written up a draft decree around betting on football, horse racing and greyhound racing.

If adopted, it could be the most significant change to Vietnamese gaming regulations since betting on football was permitted in 2017, although it will remain strictly controlled.

The main stipulation is the increase in the daily betting limit on international football matches from VND1m (€32) to VND10m (€323), which recognises two key factors.

Firstly is the general improvement in the financial position of many Vietnamese people, with the Ministry apparently having noted that the country’s per capita income has increased by approximately 1.8x.

Secondly is the prevalence of illegal gambling in Vietnam, and across Southeast Asian nations in general, over recent years. The growing exposure of black market gambling is a criminal dynamic that has been noted by international bodies including the United Nations (UN).

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has published two separate reports this year detailing the extent of illegal gambling networks in Southeast Asia, the role of these networks in wider organised criminal organisations, and connections to cryptocurrency.

A common factor that is often cited by market observers across various countries that struggle with illegal or offshore betting – with examples ranging from the Nordics to Asia – is restrictions on products and consumer preferences. The UN determines illegal gambling as an organised crime of international networks damaging the economic growth and integrity of developing nations.

Many Vietnamese may prefer to bet with illegal networks rather than the state sanctioned ones due to limits on the latter, including stake limits. By increasing the cap, potentially, the Ministry of Finance may hope to win customers back from the black market.

Opportunities and hurdles in Asian betting

In addition to the stake limit, another key proposal from the Ministry of Finance is that wagering on international football be limited to just one company on a state contract for five years, so that it can assess the potential societal impact of wider sports betting.

This could be a significant opportunity for either a domestic or international firm to gain a monopoly concession in Vietnam , as well as a foothold in a wider Asian betting market as governments continue to review laws and frameworks governing gambling.

As stands, Vietnam has granted one monopoly contract for lotteries and prize draws to Xổ số Kiến thiết (KQXS), which operates through state-owned enterprises across provincial regions. Revenues are directed back into public infrastructure and social programmes, reflecting the lottery’s historic role as a “construction lottery.”

In 2017, the government launched a pilot programme to examine licences for football and horse racing. However, the programme was quickly discontinued, as authorities stated their preference for a state-owned monopoly mirroring the privileges of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).

Another condition attached to the prospective international football betting market is that wagering will be limited to only a handful of FIFA-approved tournaments. This could mean the black market continues to gain some favour due to offering more markets to bet on, and could make running the state contract less appealing to international operators.

Regardless, the reports are indicative of a liberalising attitude towards gambling among Vietnamese authorities, perhaps part of a wider liberalisation that has seen Hong Kong move towards permitting betting on basketball.

However, other Asian markets remain tightly controlled. A long debate around casino regulation in Thailand appears to be dying down with the new Prime Minister seeming to be very much opposed, while India’s federal ban on real-money games (RMG) has dealt a severe blow to the local industry.