Quang Ninh seeking capital for $4-bln casino project

News - The northern province of Quang Ninh is calling for investment to build a casino worth US$4 billion, and a $1-billion international airport, the two key projects under the master plan to establish the Van Don Economic Zone.

Nguyen Van Thanh, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the establishment of the casino has received the go-ahead from the Prime Minister.

The project also includes a tourism complex spanning 2,000 hectares at Van Yen Commune, Van Don District, he told newswire VnExpress.

“The project will become a tourism city at a world-class level,” he said.

“The people’s committee and the provincial Department of Planning and Investment is completing the detail plans for the project.”

Besides the casino project, Quang Ninh is also attracting investments for the Van Don International Airport project, which is expected to cost $1 billion, the largest of the airport projects countrywide.

“The largest advantage of theVan Don Airportis its prime geographical position, from which it takes less than 2 hours to fly to other East Asian countries,” said Thanh.

“Many investors have shown interest in the project, including a major Korean company, which has guaranteed a capital supply for the airport.”

Moreover, the northern province is also calling for investments in other 16 projects.

The provincial authorities said this will be a good change for the locality to boost its foreign investment promotion.

Quang Ninh is willing to cover 100 percent of the site clearance expenses for 12 projects on infrastructure development, and 30 percent of the remaining six projects, said Tran Duc Lam, director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

According to figures from the department, Quang Ninh has attracted foreign-direct investment projects worth $3.72 billion since 1989, while FDI disbursement was only $735 million.