Berjaya launches exclusive Vietnam lottery operations

HO CHI MINH CITY: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp), which launched its lottery operations with its first game here yesterday, foresees a huge potential for the venture considering the country's existing paper lottery market that was worth US$3 billion, as at end of last year.
The launch the first game, the Mega 6/45 lotto jackpot, marks the start of an 18-year venture that will cost about US$210.58 million (RM925 million).
Taking the cue from the lottery market in China, Berjaya Gia Thinh Investment Technology Joint Stock Co (Berjaya GTI) general director Ooi Lee Meng said he believes BCorp's venture into the Vietnamese computerised lottery market will see a significant migration from the traditional paper lottery into computerised lottery.
"The closest comparison is China, where after the computerised lottery was opened in 2000, the ratio between paper and computerised lottery is 25% and 75%," he told reporters after the launch here yesterday.
Compared with paper lottery, Ooi said, computerised lottery looks more interesting as it offers more variety of games.
On top of that, he pointed out that the northern region of Vietnam remains a largely untapped market, with it contributing only 12% to the US$3 billion paper lottery industry in the country.
Berjaya GTI is the exclusive nationwide operator in a market of 94 million people, compared with the lottery operations in Malaysia's 30 million predominantly Muslim population, which has three national operators.
"BCorp is honoured to have established a partnership via a business cooperation contract with Vietlott, whose mission is in line with the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance's efforts to modernise the Vietnamese lottery industry.
"As a major player in the computerised lottery industry in Malaysia, we are delighted to be the exclusive partner of Vietlott to implement the first-ever nationwide self-selected computerised lottery project in Vietnam. This project also holds great significance for us, as it has strengthened the social and economic ties between our two countries," said BCorp chairman and CEO Datuk Seri Robin Tan.
"In line with Vietlott's objectives, we hope that Mega 6/45 will bring more benefits and a better lottery experience to consumers, as well as generating significant revenues for the Vietnamese government to improve the well-being of its people through healthcare, education and social welfare programmes. The reliability and integrity of a computerised lottery system will also assist the government in combating illegal lottery gaming operations," he added.
Vietnam's illegal gaming market is estimated to be worth US$9 billion a year.
BCorp's gaming business in Vietnam is carried out by Berjaya GTI, a Vietnamese company which is 51%-owned by Berjaya Lottery Vietnam Ltd (BLV), a firm incorporated in Labuan, while the remaining 49% is owned by local investors. BLV is 80% owned by BCorp while the remaining 20% is held by Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd.
Within the first month of operations, there will be 800 point-of-sale terminals available for Mega 6/45 tickets in Ho Chi Minh City and with plans to expand it to 3,600 terminals over the next one year. For the next five years, it is expected to hit 10,000 terminals nationwide, which is about 11 to 12 times the number of outlets allowed to operate in Malaysia, according to Ooi.
The minimum jackpot for Mega 6/45 is 12 billion dong (RM2.05 million).
Unlike in Malaysia, Ooi said, the lottery can be sold at both dedicated and non-dedicated outlets in Vietnam. Non-dedicated outlets include convenience stores, retail shops and kiosks.
In the next four months, Ooi said, a digit game will be rolled out in Vietnam followed by a third game within a year.
"We're also allowed to do fast draw games where you can have a draw every three minutes. This is more interesting, we can tap into a totally different spectrum," he noted.
Over the past decade, BCorp has invested in the property and hotel businesses in Vietnam. It was the first Malaysian corporation licensed to invest and develop real estate in Vietnam in 2005. Its other investments include those in luxury hotels, namely Sheraton Hanoi Hotel, InterContinental Hanoi Westlake and Long Beach Resort Phu Quoc, as well as a significant stake in a stockbroking company, SaigonBank Berjaya Securities Joint Stock Company, in Ho Chi Minh City.