Khang Thong Group brings world of rallies and speed to Vietnam

At a press conference carried out by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism on April 12, Khang Thong’s assistant to chairman Nguyen Huu Viet announced the opening of its first Vietnamese rally circuit later this month.

This 131-square metre complex includes a 1.4-kilometre asphalt road for motorcycles, a 1.1-kilometre off-road track for bicycles and ATVs, a 400-metre road for drag racing, a 7.7-kilometre road for rally racing, a 18,000-square metre yard for practicing riding Gymkhana, and a 5,000-square metre yard for young racers of five and above.

“Rally racing came to Vietnam a long time ago but there has not been a professional playground for them to live with their passion. They normally carry out cross-country rides, which are sometimes very dangerous,” Viet said. “Happyland is not only a rally circuit but also a training centre, where racers are trained by Malaysian experts to ride a rally car safely.”

Along with the opening of the circuit, which can house a 25,000-strong audience, Happyland will organise an open rally racing championship welcoming all racers in Vietnam.

“After this championship, our schedule for the circuit has been fully booked till the end of 2016. We will try to organise other racing completions where racers from Malaysia and other countries can join,” shared the chairman’s assistant.

Happyland rally circuit is only a section of Khang Thong Group’s 1,200-hectare project in Long An province. According to Viet, two other projects are awaiting completion this year, a Vietnamese culture area and a camping site. In 2017, a water park, mini world, resorts, wine castle, and the 24-hour city of light will be finished.

Director of Singapore-based Santa Fei Investment PTE Ltd., one of Happyland project’s joint investors, Michael Chan shared with VIR that Vietnam is an attractive destination for investment because of its over 90 million population. “Compared to Singapore’s five million people, Vietnam has a much bigger potential in tourism,” Michael said.

“Moreover, given the hospitality of Vietnamese people, I am confident that our project here will boost up the number of international tourists to Vietnam.”