Sands of time slip by on Vung Tau beach Project

The $4.1 billion Saigon Atlantis resort and residential complex project, registered by the US-based Winvest Investment LLC, has remained in stasis for seven years as local authorities lacked funds for its site clearance.

Licensed in 2007, the project covers 300 hectares along the beach in Vung Tau and would comprise five-star hotels, villas and residential apartments. Winvest Investment has so far received only 87 hectares for the project.

“We tried, but the province can’t afford the cost of site clearance,” said Dang Minh Thong, deputy director at Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Department of Planning and Investment, adding that the developer previously provided VND98 billion ($4.6 million) for site clearance.

Thong said the provincial committee completed site clearance on 215 hectares of land at a cost of VND261 billion ($12 million), but still needed an additional VND600 billion ($28.5 million) for clearing the remaining 82 hectares.

The huge delays in the project will obviously have a knock-on effect on costs for the investors, but the poor performance of the province reflected poorly on the investment climate.

According to Ba Ria-Vung Tau’s Land Fund Development Centre, land rental on the project site had increased since 2007. This meant Winvest Investment at present would have to pay VND3.3 trillion ($157 million) for the 87 hectares for a duration of 50 years. But if this fee was calculated based on the land rental price in 2007, it would have amounted to only VND2.5 trillion ($119 million).

“The developer is asking to pay land rental price based on the figures for 2007-2008, when they registered to invest into the project. But this is beyond the provincial committee’s authority to agree to, so we are seeking support from the Ministry of Finance,” said Thong.