Vietnam draws Hotel investors
Major foreign companies are expressing increased interest in Vietnam’s tourism prospects, which are expected to improve after the country accedes to the World Trade Organisation, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Aware of the increasing flow of foreign tourists, several companies from Japan, the UK, South Korea and the US have sought investment opportunities in recent months.
A Japanese-invested tourism project near Da Lat in Lam Dong Province, already approved by authorities, is the largest so far in terms of investment capital.
The US$1.2 billion project is funded by four major Japanese corporations, Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and Limtec.
Korea’s Kumho Asiana Group will kick off two projects tomorrow, including the construction of a rubber tire plant, the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, with an investment capital up to $380 million.
The other involves a $200 million five-star hotel, apartment and retail trading complex near downtown District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The UK’s Rockingham Corporation has submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment a project to invest in a marine tourist site worth $1 billion near the Sao and Vong beaches on Phu Quoc Island.
In an effort to target the Meeting, Incentives, Convention and Exhibition tourism (MICE), US Winvest LLC has invested and has received its license to build a five-star Saigon Atlantic tourist attraction in the seaside town of Vung Tau.
The $300 million project includes a deluxe hotel and an international conference centre capable of accomodating thousands of guests.
Another US corporation, the Platinum Dragon Empire, is exploring investment opportunities in the Vung Tau region that could be worth up to $550 million.
The world’s biggest hotel management group, Inter Continental Hotels Group, has also expressed interest in building its first hotel in 2009.
Along with major hotel chains and multinational companies, foreign investment funds are getting more involved in the tourism industry.
Two months ago, fund managed by VinaCapital were used to purchase 52.5 per cent of five-star Hanoi Hilton Hotel’s stocks and its fund VinaLand invested in the five-star Sofitel Metropole, buying 70 per cent of all shares.
In October, a Macao casino firm contacted Saigontourist to inquire about opening a Las Vegas-style casino in Ho Chi Minh City.
In other tourism matters, Shell Corporation is negotiating with Vietnamese officials for petrol supply to Vietnam’s aviation industry.
And Bangkok Airways as well as several foreign air carriers are discussing investment in Pacific Airlines, Vietnam’s only joint-stock air carrier.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, of the total $5.15 billion in foreign investment in Vietnam over the last nine months, tourism and services accounted for $2.2 billion.
- Asia Pulse -
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