Phu Yen Province’s People’s Committee has asked the Australian Golden Turf Club Pty Ltd to accelerate the construction process of the US$100 million racecourse in the south central coastal province.

At a recent meeting with the investor, Nguyen Chi Hien, vice-chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, asked the Australian company to open an account in Vietcombank’s Phu Yen branch before March 31 and deposit $5 million to carry out the initial steps of the project, which includes site clearance, mine clearance, planning activities and infrastructure construction.

The racecourse, to be built on more than 134 hectares of land straddling An Phu and An Chan communes, will include a grandstand, horse and dog racing tracks and a high-class tourism zone.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed this year and includes the racecourse and half the tourism zone. The second phase consists of all the remaining facilities and is to be completed in March 2019.

Once operational, the racecourse is expected to promote tourism in the province. It will also create jobs for locals, increase the provincial revenue and bolster its socio-economic development.

At the annual meeting in June 2015, the Government had discussed a draft decree on gambling on horse- and dog-racing and international football matches, submitted by the finance ministry.

Several large racecourse projects had been approved in southern provinces of Long An, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. Some of these have now been suspended, while others have seen no progress. — VNS