A bay to shelter from economic woes

While Vietnam is emerging as one of the most attractive investment destination, Quang Ninh is also on the radar screen of many international investors looking to invest in Asia.

In recent years, Middle East investors have started to eye Vietnam as a good investment destination with coastal Quang Ninh province, about 180 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, a great site for investment projects.

United Arab Emirates-based Tamouh Investment LLC, in August 2008, signed a memorandum of understanding with Quang Ninh People’s Committee for studying investment projects in the province.

According to Quang Ninh People’s Committee, Tamouh will draw-up plans for investing in a seaport and oil refinery project, a highway project connecting Halong city and Mong Cai town and a university to provide skilled workers for the United Arab Emirates.

Early this year, Limitless LLC, a business unit of Dubai World, announced it had raised the investment capital for its Halong Star Hotel project, which was started to be built in 2007, from $220 million to $550 million.

Philip Atkinson, regional director for Limitless in South East Asia, said Quang Ninh had great land for investment, adding that the company would further expand its investment in the province to tap that potential.

During the visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to the United Arab Emirates in February this year, Limitless signed a memorandum of understanding with Quang Ninh authorities to invest in the Mac Dynasty Lagoon project. In its plans, Limitless would develop the project as a multi-functional industrial park, urban and entertainment complex.

Nguyen Van Thanh, director of Quang Ninh Planning and Investment Department, said the province’s leaders were aware that the province had huge potentials for investment projects and it was widely opening doors for investors, especially foreign businesses.

Bordering with Lang Son, Bac Giang, Haiphong and Hai Duong provinces and Chinese Guangxi province, Quang Ninh is now the third economic hub of northern Vietnam, after Hanoi and Haiphong. The province also owns the largest coal deposits in the country.

Vietnamese government saw Quang Ninh as a part of the pivotal economic development triangle of Hanoi-Haiphong-Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam, that would drive northern economic development.

Due to its favourable geographic condition and giant coal mines, Thanh said, Quang Ninh was a good place for developing seaports, shipbuilding and heavy industrial projects. He said that not only Middle East investors studying investment opportunities in Quang Ninh, many other domestic and foreign investors also came for developing investment projects.

Currently, US-based AES Corporation is preparing documents to build a $1.4 billion Mong Duong thermoelectricity plant in Quang Ninh. Meanwhile, another US company, SSA Marine, joined hands with Vietnam National Shipping Lines to invest in Cai Lan international container port.

Quang Ninh Planning and Investment Department revealed that Chinese Fosun Group was planning to build a steel manufacturing plant with total annual capacity of about five million tonnes in the province Thanh said in the future, the province would continue encouraging investors to invest in the industrial areas like shipbuilding, energy, steel manufacturing and cement.

“With the advantage of position and seaports, investors could save a lot of transport costs when they manufacture products in Quang Ninh and export them to international markets,” said Thanh. Recognising that many investors are eyeing investment potential in Quang Ninh, the province’s leaders announced they were pushing infrastructure development so as to meet investors’ requirements.

In next few years, a series of transport systems would be upgraded or newly built. For example, the province will upgrade Mong Duong-Mong Cai road, which links Quang Ninh to China’s Guangxi province. Van Gia seaport will also be built while the province is seeking approval from the government for developing the international Van Don airport.

Furthermore, transportation from Hanoi to Quang Ninh will be more convenient as the government is planning to build a highway linking Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport and Quang Ninh’s Halong city, expected to be operational in 2015. As the province is trying to improve its transport infrastructure system, some investors have built industrial infrastructure.

Two years ago a domestic joint venture including Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group, Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam broke ground of the large Hai Ha seaport and industry complex.

The province and the joint venture announced that the $18 billion complex would offer good infrastructure for investors embracing shipbuilding and ship-repairing, steel manufacturing, oil refineries and urban development. Furthermore, Cai Lan, Hai Yen, Viet Hung and Dong Mai industrial parks offer good infrastructure conditions for investors. But Quang Ninh is not only favourable to investors in industry sector. Home to Halong Bay, one of the nicest bays in the world which have been recognised as a world heritage, Quang Ninh is also an ideal destination for investors to develop tourism projects.

Halong Bay covers an area of 1,553 square kilometres including 1,969 islands. There are many soil islands, caves, grottoes, beaches, beautiful landscapes enabling the development of attractive tourist sites of various types.

According to Quang Ninh Planning and Investment Department, about 4.4 million tourists visited Quang Ninh in 2008. In the first quarter of this year, the number of tourists was 678,000, a 23 per cent increase against the same period last year. The department estimates number of tourists visiting Quang Ninh could be around 4.8 million people this year despite the economic downturn impacting Vietnam’s tourism sector. “That proves the attractiveness of Quang Ninh tourism potential,” Thanh said, adding that many tourism investment opportunities had not been explored in Quang Ninh.

In May this year, Song Da Urban & Industrial Zone Investment and Development Joint stock Company broke ground of its Song Da Ngoc Vung eco-tourism project in Quang Ninh.

Like United Arab Emirates’ Tamouh and Limitless, American Rockingham Group is planning to invest in a tourism project at Halong Bay, including villas, a five-star hotel and a golf course. It also proposes to build a casino.

Besides that, Quang Ninh is calling investment for developing an entertainment complex in the province’s Van Don Economic Zone, covering an area of about 300 hectares.