Yangon - Myanmar plans to legalise some types of gambling, including casinos for foreigners only in upper-tier hotels, an official said.
“We have finalised the reformed gambling law and are ready to send it to the parliament for suggestion, discussion and then approval,” said an official of the Home Affairs Ministry, who asked that his name be withheld.
Currently illegal forms of gambling such as casinos and lotteries are to be legalised and regulated, he said.
“It's better to get more revenue for country by legalising the illegal lotteries,” the official said.
Some estimates suggest that around 70 percent of Myanmar's adult population engage in illegal gambling, from lotteries to football bets.
“Also casinos for only foreigners would be allowed at three-stars and above hotels if the parliament agrees to our proposed law,” he said.
The possibility of legalising gambling was contained in the tourism master plan published in 2013 to attract about 7 million tourists a year by 2020.
Myanmar is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination as the reform process of new government that took power in 2011 has opened up the former pariah state to the world.
Foreign tourist arrivals have doubled under the new government to nearly 2 million tourists a year, data from the Hotel and Tourism Ministry showed. - Sapa-dpa