Korean investors drive for Ha Tay

Investors are clubbing together to sink big money into the region

DK ENC and Kim’s Development have lodged an application with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to invest in a 36-hole golf course in Van Son commune, Chuong My district in Ha Tay, in the form of a wholly foreign-invested entity.
Nguyen Van Tu, deputy director of the Ha Tay Planning and Investment Department, told Vietnam Investment Review that the course, Sky Lake Golf and Resort Club, will have an investment of $22 million. Kim’s Development will provide 92.4 per cent of the course’s legal investment capital.
The course will be located on a 200-hectare site and have other recreational facilities, including villas and restaurants. Tu said the first 18 holes of the project are scheduled to be completed in 20 months after investors receive the licence from the MPI.
The second golf project, Tu said, will be located on a 200-hectare site in Xuan Mai town of Ha Tay, about 20km away from Sky Lake Golf.
“We are still in negotiations with a Korean firm about this project, but we are hopeful that it will be also viable in the near future,” Tu told VIR.
He said if these two projects became a reality, Ha Tay would be a heavyweight competitor for Vinh Phuc province, which has one golf course in operation and two others under construction.
Ha Tay’s Kings’ Island Golf Course, which is 100-per cent locally-owned, was the first 36-hole course in the north. In addition to the course and clubhouse there are villas for lease, tennis courts and international-standard water sports facilities.
Four years ago, the Phu Man golf project in Ha Tay was scrapped four years after it was licensed. The investor, Singapore’s Link Quest, failed to raise the money to develop the project. VIR has learned that after Link Quest’s failure, several foreign firms wanted to revive the Phu Man, but the Ha Tay authorities decided to turn the site into a residential area.
Increased foreign investment flows into Vietnam in recent years have boosted the demand for golf courses, enabling golf projects in the north to be revitalised following the regional crisis.
Thailand’s Noble Development, the major shareholders in the 36-hole Kim No Golf Course in Hanoi, is completing its first 18 holes and will open the course before the end of the year.



No. 751/March 6-12, 2006