The frozen real estate market has warmed up with the news that multi-billion dollar projects would be developed in the time to come. Some months ago, local newspapers quoted real estate experts as predicting a new investment wave from Asian investors. Real estate brokers said that investors would be from the MENA, which has many real estate billionaires. A series of working visits to Vietnam recently by powerful conglomerates from the MENA have led analysts to believe that the MENA billionaires are eyeing Vietnam as a potential market. Quang Ninh provincial authorities have announced that Nakheel Group from the UAE is moving ahead with its tentative project to develop the Ha Long Star tourism complex and urban area. The project, expected to cover an area of 125 hectares, would be developed with capital of $550 million. There would be a 5-star hotel with 250 rooms, a luxury hotel with 100 rooms, 226 villas, 85 houses, 114 apartments and a shopping center. Nakkeel is the owner of many big projects in Dubai, including the well-known Palm Jumerah Island, a group of islands covering an area of 20 square meters, the biggest artificial island project in the world. Dubai ICD, a large investment group which manages total assets of $120 billion, is also reportedly looking for opportunities to inject money into real estate projects. The information has been confirmed by the Quang Ninh provincial Investment Promotion and Support Committee after the committee’s officials had a working session with the group’s managers in Dubai recently. In Dubai, the officials also had working sessions with some UAE investment groups on issues relating to foreign investments in the Van Don Economic Zone in Quang Ninh Province and to provincial key projects. Jawad Khan from Dubai ICD has confirmed that a group of executives would be sent to Quang Ninh by the end of 2014 to learn about investment opportunities here. Analysts commented that Quang Ninh Province has caught the eyes of the world’s gigantic corporations after local newspapers reported about a plan to develop the Van Don Economic Zone. Once the plan gets the nod from the government, Van Don will become a special economic zone where investors can enjoy very attractive investment incentives. Prior to that, in late 2013, CDC, a subsidiary of United Development Company PSC (UDC), one of the leading private groups in Qatar, sent its staff to HCM City to consider the possibility of developing an urban area and transport infrastructure projects. UDC is known as a powerful economic group which pours money into many different business fields, from civil engineering, urban area development, to oil and gas exploitation and telecommunications. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Economics Minister of UAE, said at the working session with the Vietnamese diplomatic delegation in May that 11 UAE businesses have injected over $4 billion into projects in Vietnam.
