Indochina Kajima aims at $1 bln Vietnam investment

Indochina Kajima, a joint venture between Indochina Capital and Kajima Corporation, expects to pour about $1 billion into Vietnam’s industrial real estate in the coming years.

Indochina Capital CEO Peter Ryder disclosed the ambition while launching Core5 Vietnam, a Vietnam-based industrial real estate investment and development platform (www.c5ip.vn) in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.

The website focuses on the nationwide rollout of world-class factory and warehouse properties for lease in key manufacturing and logistics markets.

"Core5 Vietnam plans to roll out a collection of exceptional industrial assets across Vietnam’s key manufacturing markets. Our belief in the market opportunity presented by the industrial sector is underpinned by our long-term vision to invest $1 billion into this sector over the next five to seven years,” he said.

The platform offers various solutions like ready-built factories for lease, ready-built warehouses for lease, and build-to-suit industrial properties. Its key services include development and construction consultation from project managers, facility management advice from operation professionals, and licensing support to ensure timely business setup, so that manufacturing activities or logistics companies can quickly launch their businesses.

Owned by Kajima Corp., Core5 Industrial Partners is a U.S.-based industrial real estate property company with expertise in the development of class-A properties featuring the latest innovations from America. Following its success in the U.S., the Core5 brand is expanding into Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest-growing manufacturing and logistics hubs.

“From a global perspective, Vietnam is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and is underpinned by strong fundamentals, namely a large, young, and growing population,” Kajima executive vice president Keisuke Koshijima said.

“A key to the country’s economic rise within the region is the manufacturing sector that accounts for over a third of Vietnam’s overall GDP and the outlook is attractive given the supply chain shift from China, which has led to several prominent manufacturers relocating to the country,” he said.

“This was highlighted by Apple’s recent shift of iPad capacity to Vietnam, a trend we expect to continue for other electronic giants. The established manufacturing industry combined with the rapidly growing e-commerce sector create favorable market conditions for the expansion of the Core5 brand into Vietnam.”

Core5 Vietnam’s current portfolio covers 90 hectares of land including seven projects in northern Vietnam and one in the south. Once completed, these assets will comprise a total net leasable area of approximately 700,000 square meters and will amount a total investment cost of nearly $450 million.

The platform’s first project in Vietnam, located within Deep C Hai Phong 2 in Hai Phong City, will offer almost 96,000 square meters of net leasable area to the market. Project construction will commence later this month and the handover of the first factories in the first quarter of next year.