S Korea’s Daewoo eyes $381 mln urban residency project in northern Vietnam

A consortium led by the Vietnam arm of a South Korean conglomerate is the sole applicant for developing a VND9.68 trillion ($381.08 million) urban residential area in the northern province of Thai Binh.

The consortium comprises two of Daewoo E&C’s subsidiaries – D Daewoo E&C Vina and THT Development Company Ltd.; and two Vietnamese businesses – Gip Land Company Limited and Zup Invest., Ltd., according to the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

The Kien Giang new urban residential area will cover 96.4 hectares in Tran Lam, Quang Trung and Ky Ba wards as well as Vu Chinh and Vu Phuc communes in Thai Binh town.

Of the total project cost, nearly VND9.27 trillion ($364.67 million) will be earmarked for construction, while the remaining VND417 million ($16.41 million) will be allocated for compensation and resettlement.

The project, designed to accommodate 18,626 residents, will include 858 detached houses, 544 villas, five 15-floor apartment blocks; a 15-floor social housing site, and some technical and services portfolios. Construction is set to take eight years.

In June 1991, Daewoo E&C became the first South Korean construction company to open a representative office in Vietnam. Its subsidiary, Daewoo E&C Vina, founded in 2017, had a chartered capital of $1 million as of March 2023.

It has joined many projects in Vietnam, notably the Daewoo hotel-Daeha serviced apartment complex and the Starlake new urban area project in Hanoi.

THT Development Company Ltd, set up in 2011, had a chartered capital of VND4.56 trillion ($179.64 million) as of March 2023.

Gip Land Company Limited is known as a co-founder of the Green I-Park, which developed the Lien Ha Thai Industrial Park in Thai Binh province. The IP has been attracting investments from South Korean firms like soju maker HiteJinro.

On Tuesday, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang received a mission of South Korean construction and urban development businesses led by Jung Won-ju, who is chairman of the Daewoo E&C Group as well as the Korea Housing Builders’ Association.

At the meeting, the Daewoo executive asked for continued assistance from Vietnamese authorities in developing the urban area project in Thai Binh province.

Jung said South Korean Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Noh Hyeong-ouk will visit Vietnam next week to promote housing development cooperation between the two countries.