Hard Rock confirms interest in Vietnam casino project

no and hotel operator Hard Rock International has confirmed its interest in developing a casino at Laguna Lăng Cô beach resort in Vietnam’s Thua Thien Hue province, according to news outlet GGRAsia.

Daniel Cheng, Hard Rock’s Senior Vice President for casino business development in Asia, stated that the company is willing to begin construction as soon as the national government approves the casino license.

“We have finished all the site studies and completed all project financing,” Cheng told GGRAsia.

“All we are waiting is for the [Vietnam] national government to issue the casino license and we are ready to put spades on the ground immediately,” he added.

The US-based company has not publicly disclosed details of the Thua Thien Hue proposal, but Cheng did however state that Hard Rock had already been shortlisted as a potential gaming partner.

The Laguna Lăng Cô project, located in Vietnam’s north-central coast, opened in April 2013 with a 57-villa Banyan Tree resort, a 229-room Angsana resort and an 18-hole golf course.

Laguna Lăng Cô is now seeking to build an integrated resort (IR), with a number of potential suitors lined up, including Hard Rock.

According to the Vietnam News outlet, authorities in Thua Thien Hue have asked recently for the central government’s blessing to increase the investment capital threshold for the resort to the minimum requirement of US$2bn.