$3.5 bln urban project looks to get back on track in HCMC
Malaysian-backed firm Berjaya Vietnam International University Town LLC is planning to revive its $3.5 billion township project in Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoc Mon district after legal obstacles are settled, with the firm pledging more capital.
An artist’s impression of the Berjaya Vietnam International University Town project in HCMC, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of Berjaya Vietnam.
The HCMC-based company sent a report to the city’s Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) this February, listing some legal obstacles. According to the report, the first regards the required deposit. However, legal documents for the project do not specify a schedule for the project. With no deposit, the project site cannot be allocated to the investor.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in its project appraisal dossiers in 2021, proposed a time schedule, including 36 months for site clearance and relocating affected residents, starting from the date of the adjusted investment certificate, and construction should have been finished within 120 months after site clearance was completed.
However, the Prime Minister’s approval for the project did not include a time schedule, leaving both the company and regulators in HCMC unable to make further progress.
The DPI has asked the HCMC People’s Committee to petition the Prime Minister to set 36 months since the adjusted investment certificate as the deadline for site clearance, and 120 months (including the time for investment procedures) as the deadline for finishing construction.
Berjaya Vietnam received the first investment certificate for the 880-hectare project in 2008. Malaysia-headquartered Berjaya aimed to develop an international university township with total investment estimated at around $3.5 billion.
The planned facilities included residential areas, primary, secondary, and high schools, vocational schools and universities, healthcare centers, parks, commercial and entertainment areas, together with an IT park. It was scheduled for completion within 10 years. However, the project was delayed because the investor was in financial trouble.
In May 2022, the DPI issued a new investment certificate for the investor, with new investment pledged of VND3 trillion ($128.5 million) higher than the original investment stated in 2008.
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