Detailed plans for land use on Phu Quoc ready in Oct.

The detailed tourism plans for Phu Quoc Island off southern Kien Giang Province will be ready in October, which will then facilitate the development of tourism projects there, a provincial official said.

Dang Cong Huan, head of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, told the Daily last week that "the job to make detailed schemes of the scale 1/500 for Truong Beach, Sao Beach and Khem Beach is now 50% complete," and these final plans will be brought out in September.

The provincial government has hired consultants to make a land-use scheme for Truong Beach, linking up all projects on the 1,100 hectares of the whole area because several projects had been approved and land allocated to investors before hand. The scheme will serve as guidelines for both State agencies and investors to develop projects in good harmony.

Sao Beach and Khem Beach as a whole will also have a common land-use scheme, and consultants have been hired to make the scheme of the 1/500 scale, Huan said on the sidelines of a conference here on attracting investment into tourism property projects.

"The area (of Sao and Khem beaches) will be reserved for developing five-star standard facilities," he said, adding all the schemes for the island will be completed in October this year.

To ready itself for an anticipated influx of investors into the hospitality industry on the island, the provincial government is also accelerating progress on several key infrastructure projects, he said at the Vietnam Tourism Property Opportunities Conference and Exhibition at HCMC's New World Saigon Hotel.

Provincial authorities are seeking approval from the central Government for permission to choose some more contractors for key infrastructure projects, which include the north-south trunk road and the island's circumference road currently under progress. The province also prefers the investment form of BOT (build-operate-transfer) for a 53km power line linking the province's inland town of Rach Gia to Phu Quoc Island.

"We want all investors to know about the process of developing these key infrastructure projects to facilitate their investment plans there," Huan said.

Duong To International Airport as the most important infrastructure project there is also seeing smooth progress, and site clearance is 80% complete now. Construction will start work on this airport in September for opening in 2011, with total investment of VND4 trillion. The Southern province has also planned ways for receiving a big number of tourists to Phu Quoc now that the international airport is still under construction, one of which being to increase air flight frequency at daytime. More tourist boats will also be put into services in the coming time to carry passengers from the mainland, he said.

The central Government has also agreed in principle to the establishment of a joint venture air service company to fly tourists there," he revealed.

Source: Saigon Times

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Phu Quoc officials oppose forest lease plan

Officials of Phu Quoc Island, a favorite tourist destination in southern Vietnam, are protesting the Kien Giang Province administration’s plan to use over 8,700 hectares of the island’s forests for ecotourism projects.

The plan, which envisages allocating roughly a quarter forest areas of Phu Quoc Island to property developers by 2010 to invest in tourism activities under lease contracts, was delivered to Phu Quoc District authorities last week and met strong opposition.

Under the plan, investors will be allowed to use 5 percent of the leased forest area to build tourism facilities while the remaining territories are only permitted to serve as landscapes.

More than 100 businesses have thus far registered to develop the designated areas according to the plan.

Pham Phu Hai, former vice chief of Phu Quoc District’s Communist Party Unit said he could not understand why Kien Giang provincial administration had not previously announced such a big project to Phu Quoc authorities before cooperating with investors.

Hai said the forest area reserved for construction of tourism facilities would face high risks of fire, deforestation, and pollution.

Head of the district’s Inspection Division Pham Thi Kim Dung said apportioning Phu Quoc’s forests for tourism development would go against the central government’s scheme until 2010 to develop the island.

According to the decision issued in 2004, the government required an increase in planted forest areas from some 4,300 hectares to between 6,500 hectares and 7,000 hectares by 2010 – to achieve a total of 38,000-39,000 hectares of forests on the island.

“While the forest areas have yet to increase, more than 400 hectares would be earmarked for tourism constructions,” Dung said. “It’s a violation of the government’s mandate.”

Other officials suggested the provincial People’s Committee suspend the project altogether.

Colonel Nguyen Van Luan, the former head of the district’s Veteran Society, meanwhile, proposed authorities select several investors to invest on a trial basis first.

Kien Giang is a southern province in the Mekong Delta region, home to many famous coastal districts like Phu Quoc and Ha Tien.

Source: Thanhnien News

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Danang faces glut of homes

Concerns have been raised over the possible sales glut of homes in Danang as developers flock to the central city.

Although local authorities and developers claim the future is bright for real estate development in the city, which is the economic spearhead of the central Vietnam, some industry insiders point out demand remains modest while the market is in danger of being oversupplied.

“With so many projects planned for Danang it is a big question of how to sell,” said Nguyen Quang Ninh, business development director of Indochina Land, the real estate division of Indochina Capital.

Ninh is concerned over developers building a dozen of residential, hotel, office and new townships in Danang at a time when sales of other properties are slow.

VinaCapital has broken ground for construction of a 9-hectare estate by the Han River, which will be completed in the next 10 years, featuring high-end apartments, hotels, offices, shopping mall and international school. The development cost is around $325 million.

Korean firm Daewon is building two estates, including the $250 million Da Phuoc International City and $30 million Cantavil apartment complex.

Local firms such as Vien Dong Land and Dong A Real Estate are building two large complexes downtown with investment capital of $180 million and $60 million respectively. Vu Chau Long Real Estate Joint Stock Company recently broke ground for construction of two properties costing some $235 million.

Resorts under construction along the coast, include villas and apartments incorporated in resort such as Hyatt Regency, Raffles, Son Tra Resort and Spa and the second phase of Furama.

Ninh said it would not be easy for these properties to sell as local demand for hotels, offices and apartments was still small, which was reflected through the sales of 95 apartments at the Indochina Riverside Towers.

Sales of these condominiums have been slow over the last two years and the developers were only able to sell out all recently when the market heated up late last year and early last year. Only 20 per cent of customers are locals.

Indochina Riverside Towers is the first condominium in Danang. The other, Danang Plaza at No.6 Nguyen Du street, is still under construction.

Ninh said as demand was weak, it would be challenging for developers to pre-sell their properties and as a result, construction might be put on ice in case developers were not financially strong enough. There is also a lack of flights to bring tourists to Danang and local hoteliers are asking for more flights from South Korea and Hong Kong.

“It will be very difficult for us to sell because demand is too weak,” said a developer, who is building a new township in the city. “However, we can not abandon the project because we have spent quite a lot on compensation and land clearance.”

However, some others remain bullish over the future of Danang. Dam Quang Tuan, chairman of Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company 579 said Danang had potential to become a service and tourist hub of the Southeast Asia.

“There is no adequate information to have an accurate assessment of local real estate market. But, I am confident Danang can be developed in the way Singapore has done,” said Tuan.

Source: VIR

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