Phu Quoc is famous for its pristine beaches and untouched tropical rain forests

TUOI TRE

A US$5 billion casino and resort will be built on Phu Quoc Island, a tropical island paradise in Vietnam’s south.

Kien Giang Province People’s Committee chairman Bui Ngoc Suong announced Tuesday the Vietnamese government had given the green light for the island’s first casino, which will be part of a 100-hectare resort complex.

Provincial authorities plan to call for bids for the design and construction of the casino complex next year.

Under Vietnamese law, only foreign passport holders are allowed to enter casinos.

The pristine white beaches and sparkling blue waters of Phu Quoc Island attract more than just tourists. International and domestic investors are flocking to the island, with plans to develop hundreds of hotels, resorts and entertainment projects.

Last year, the U.S.-based Limited Investment Zones applied for a license to develop a $4.5 billion casino and resort complex on Phu Quoc, Saigon Times reported.

The $9 billion Pearl of Asia complex is also being built on the island by the Swiss Trustee Suisse Group's Pearl of Asia Development Corp.

With a coastline of some 150 kilometers and rugged inland jungle, Phu Quoc was famous for its fish sauce until about a decade ago when the first tourist resort opened on the island.

It takes about an hour to fly to the 561-square-kilometer island from Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and some cities in Thailand.

Local authorities plan to develop the island in order to attract two to three million visitors a year by 2020.