HO CHI MINH CITY: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) has launched its US$211 million (RM838 million) computerised lottery operations in Vietnam, with the first game offering a jackpot of at least RM2.14 million.
“Within the first month of operations, 800 point-of-sale terminals for Mega 6/45 (Lotto Jackpot Game) tickets will be available throughout Ho Chi Minh City.
“Some 10,000 point-of-sale terminals are planned nationwide in the next five years,” said BCorp chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Robin Tan at the launch, here, yesterday.
“We are very positive on our outlook right now,” he said.
The lottery contract is operated by Berjaya Gia Thinh Investment Technology Joint Stock Company (Berjaya GTI).
Incorporated in Labuan, Berjaya GTI is a Vietnamese company and 51 per cent-owned by Berjaya Lottery Vietnam Ltd (BLV). BLV, in turn, is 80 per cent-owned by BCorp and the rest by its subsidiary, Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto).
Berjaya GTI general director Ooi Lee Meng said based on a government source, the estimated value of the illegal lottery market in Vietnam was about US$9 billion a year.
Ooi added that the value of the legal lottery market in the country, meanwhile, was about US$3 billion last year.
Tan said BCorp had established a business cooperation contract with Vietnam Computerised Lottery One Member Company Ltd (Vietlott), whose mission was in line with the Vietnamese Finance Ministry’s efforts to modernise the country’s lottery industry.
Besides BToto, other gaming-related companies under Berjaya Group include Natural Avenue Sdn Bhd, Berjaya Philippines Inc in the Philippines and International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Inc in the United States.
In January, the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment issued the Investment Registration Certificate to BCorp and Vietlott to certify an exclusive 18-year contract to invest and operate a nationwide computerised lottery.
Vietlott is a 100 per cent state-owned enterprise under the Vietnamese Finance Ministry and is the only enterprise permitted to conduct computerised lottery business in the country.