ITC Spectrum gets a stay of execution

However, the local government will not revoke the investment certificate of the investor as previously threatened.

Man Ngoc Ly, director of Binh Dinh Provincial Economic Zone Management Authority, said ITC Spectrum  had not transferred VND21 billion, or $1.04 million at the current exchange rate, before December 31, 2012 as committed.

“The investor said they had trouble with procedures for money transfer, so that they failed to make commitment on time,” said Ly.

In September 2012, Binh Dinh Provincial People’s Committee asked the investor to advance the $1.04 million sum before October 31, 2012 or the provincial committee would revoke the investment certificate of this project. But the investor asked the government to extend this deadline by the end of 2012 and this petition was approved.

“Site clearance and land compensation will not complete if the investor does not advance money. We understand that they are in a difficult situation, therefore we will not withdraw the project’s investment certificate at the current time,” said Ly, adding the local authorities continue to support the investor.

Under the commitment with Binh Dinh, Ly said, ITC Spectrum would have to cover all VND135 billion ($6.4 million), of compensation and site clearance costs. The $1.04 million is just a part of the total amount. Until now, only 135 out of 325 hectares of the project site have been cleared.

ITC Spectrum is developing Vinh Hoi resort project through a wholly-owned subsidiary Vietnamese-American Hotel and Resort Limited Company. In 2010, Marriott International signed a management agreement with the US firm to manage the project under two luxury hotel brands including Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott.

According to Marriott International, the project will be an oceanfront, fully-integrated, mixed-use development including three resorts, a championship 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones II, residential villas, a retail village, an arboretum and other recreational amenities.

However,  construction of this project, licenced in 2007, has never begun due to site-clearance difficulties. In September 2012, the Vietnamese government agreed to extend lifetime of this project to 55 years from 50 to partly compensate for the time delay caused by these difficulties.