Panasonic, Keppel Land Vietnam team up in sustainable urbanization

Panasonic and Singapore-backed Keppel Land Vietnam have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore the development of smart solutions for sustainable urbanization to be applied to the property developer’s projects in Vietnam.

The solutions will include smart mobility, smart community, and environmental solutions, Panasonic Global said mid this week.

The MoU was signed by Keppel Land Vietnam CEO Christina Goh and Panasonic Vietnam CEO Marukawa Yoichi.

“This collaboration will leverage Keppel Land’s deep experience in smart and sustainable urban space solutions, as well as Panasonic’s leading expertise in smart electronics,” Goh said in the Panasonic Global announcement.

“Through this partnership, we will create smart, community-centric solutions that will contribute to furthering sustainable development in Vietnam, a key growth market for Keppel Land.”

Panasonic Vietnam CEO Yoichi said the cooperation with Keppel Land is part of Panasonic’s efforts to realize its vision and mission of creating healthy, comfortable and happy lives for Vietnamese families.

In Vietnam, Keppel Land has quality residential developments like Estella Heights, Celesta Rise, and Empire City in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as Grade A commercial developments like Saigon Centre in the city’s District 1.

In Vietnam, Panasonic has developed smart solutions to create smart communities through its S.i.CITY solution package, launched in 2022. With solutions for irrigation management, system management, public lighting, and air quality management, Panasonic can reduce harmful impacts on the environment.

Keppel Land is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, a Singaporean flagship multinational company providing solutions for sustainable urbanization. Vietnam is one of the conglomerate’s core markets.

Keppel Corp. is tapping emerging markets like Vietnam for growth, with the country gaining traction as a manufacturing hub for investors seeking to diversify from China. The corporation’s CEO Loh Chin Hua noted in an interview with Nikkei Asia earlier this month that businesses have been leaning into a “China plus one” strategy, a bid to diversify investments from the mainland in favor of alternative destinations to reduce concentration risks.

“There are a lot of activities, manufacturing, where a number of these multinationals, especially tech companies, have started into Vietnam, looking at Vietnam as a possible manufacturing base,” he told the Japanese newspaper. “We predict that we are in a very good position to invest even more into that country.”

Keppel Land announced in January 2022 that its subsidiary Keppel Land Vietnam struck a deal with Phu Long Real Estates JSC of Vietnam’s investment group Sovico Holdings, and Phu Long’s subsidiary An Khanh New City Development to acquire a 49% interest in three residential land plots totaling 14.2 hectares in Hanoi.

The acquisition price was for S$159.7 million ($118 million). Keppel and HCMC-based Phu Long plan to develop about 1,260 residences comprised of over 1,000 condominium units and more than 200 detached homes for over VND11,500 billion (about 487.5 million). The project is part of Mailand Hanoi City, a project now in the works that features residential properties, mixed-use complexes, schools, and hospitals.

“In line with Keppel’s asset-light business model under Vision 2030, Keppel Land Vietnam is investing in this project alongside Keppel Vietnam Fund and a co-investor of the fund, allowing us to tap third-party funds for growth through collaborating with Keppel Capital,” Keppel Land Vietnam president Joseph Low said in the January 2022 announcement.

Keppel Corporation CEO Loh told Nikkei Asia, “Beyond real estate, we also see a lot of opportunities in Vietnam in terms of the energy transition. We are also looking at possibilities of waste-to-energy business in Vietnam and of course data centers, in which the group is quite strong.”

Keppel counts Singapore state investor Temasek as a major shareholder as Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand Group does.

Real estate giant CapitaLand is currently in talks to acquire assets worth roughly $1.5 billion from Vietnam’s biggest listed property firm Vinhomes JSC of the country’s largest conglomerate Vingroup. A deal of that size would mark one of the largest real estate transactions in Southeast Asia in the last few years.

Vietnam is among the top 5 destinations for ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in Singapore seeking property investments abroad, global property services firm Knight Frank said in its latest Wealth Report earlier this month.