CapitaLand seeks to complete $500 mln urban project in southern Vietnam by 2027

CapitaLand Development (CLD), part of the Singapore-based CapitaLand Group, aims to complete its $500-million smart city project in the southern province of Binh Duong by 2027, group chairman Wong Kan Seng said.

At a meeting with provincial authorities on Tuesday, the executive said the first phase of the 18.9-hectare project is set for completion in 2024, with 1,300 apartments and houses out of the 3,700 planned for the whole project.

He added that CapitaLand is looking to invest in more localities across Vietnam, including Binh Duong, a fast-growing province, in addition to two economic hubs Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

CapitaLand and Becamex IDC, a leading developer of large-scale industrial townships in Vietnam, signed a cooperation contract to develop the complex in December 2021.

The project, located in the Binh Duong New City, is CapitaLand's first in Vietnam outside Hanoi and HCMC. It features a 700,000 square meter park, shopping centers, offices, exhibition centers, schools, residential areas, and others facilities.

CapitaLand is set to acquire a prime site from Becamex IDC, the managing agency of the Binh Duong New City, to develop the smart city project.

In reply, Nguyen Van Loi, chief of Binh Duong's Party Committee, said Binh Duong is drafting a planning for 2030 for its population of five million with a focus on green growth. He added that Binh Duong would benefit from the government’s efforts to develop infrastructure in the southern region.

He listed ongoing projects including Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 3 and Ring Road 4, the HCMC-Chon Thanh Expressway connecting HCMC and Binh Phuoc passing through Binh Duong, the Trans-Asian railway (TAR), and the Binh Duong-HCMC urban railway.

Singapore is the third largest foreign investor in Binh Duong with 277 projects and total registered capital of $5.4 billion.

CapitaLand Development (CLD) is the development arm of CapitaLand Group, with a portfolio worth approximately S$21.3 billion as at September 30, 2022.

CLD (Vietnam) oversees and grows CLD’s investment and development business in Vietnam, with a portfolio of one retail mall, one small office/home office (SOHO) development, three integrated developments, and over 13,000 quality homes across 17 residential developments.

In February 2022, CLD and Vietnam's northern province of Bac Giang signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the development of CLD’s first industrial park, logistics park and township development in Vietnam with a total projected investment value of $1 billion.

Per the MoU, CLD will partner with Bac Giang province to evaluate several greenfield sites totaling over 400 hectares across the province.