01:03′ 27/01/2009 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge - In the context of the frozen state of the domestic real estate market and with no signs of recovery on the horizon, many Vietnamese businesses have shifted the focus of their investment to foreign markets, representing a new developmental direction.
The Housing and Urban Development and Investment Corporation (HUD) is one of the pioneers of this move, agreeing a joint venture project with Cuba’s Palmares Group to construct a 36-hole golf course, in combination with tourism, service and apartment areas on 300-400 hectares of land in Colodera (Bauta).
HUD also reached an additional agreement with Palmares to build their second golf course in Cabodela (Varadero). It plans to cooperate with Cuba ’s leading tourism group, Cubanacan, to construct a five-star hotel in Santa Lucia ( Camaguey ) and with Gran Caribe to upgrade Capri Hotel in Havana .
According to a HUD leader, it is the success of the office and house rental market in Cuba that helped the corporation to decide to invest in projects in the South American country, instead of waiting for the unpredictable recovery of the domestic real estate market.
Sharing HUD’s vision of profiting from new markets, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Real Estate Company is promoting the construction of a large-scale hotel in Vientiane , Laos .
The Transport Engineering Construction & Investment Joint Stock Company (TECBIS 584) has been granted a licence to construct a trade and apartment centre in the US .
TECBIS 584’s Deputy Director, Duong Chi Thien said that his company has established a branch in the US and is targeting land owned by the Vietnamese community in California’s Orange County.
In addition, the company has sent a group of successful real estate investors to Cambodia to promote the establishment of a real estate transaction floor, paving the way for Vietnamese businesses to enter the market, which is ripe with the potential for development. In the initial phase, the group will spend 6-10 months conducting market research and kickstarting several small-scale projects.
Also working on penetrating the US market, the Thu Duc Housing Development (TDH) has studied the market since 2007 and plans to enter into a joint venture with a US company to construct around 210,000 apartments for those who lost their homes in the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina.
While Vietnamese enterprises are busy formulating overseas investment plans, many international groups still believe in the medium- and long-term future of the Vietnamese real estate market.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam during 2008 reached 23.6 billion USD, tripling the previous year’s figure. The majority of this FDI capital was pumped into financing the construction of offices, high-end apartments and hotels.
VietNamNet/VNA