Gamuda Land in RM6bil Vietnam venture

PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Bhd’s wholly-owned unit, Gamuda Land (HCMC) Sdn Bhd, has entered into a joint venture with its Vietnamese partner, Sai Gon Thuong Tin Real Estate Joint Stock Co (Sacomreal) to undertake a RM6bil project in Tan Phu District, about 9km from the central business district of Ho Chi Minh City.


The company yesterday signed a shares-sale agreement with Sacomreal for the proposed acquisition of a 60% equity interest in Saigon Thuong Tin Tan Thang Investment Real Estate Joint Stock Co (Tan Thang Co) for a cash consideration of US$82.8mil.

Tan Thang has the rights for the investment and construction of a parcel of 825,216.5 sq m land into a residential, sports and educational complex with an estimated gross development value of RM6bil.


The project will comprise 7,000 units of medium-end and premium apartments with built-up from 700 to 1,500 sq ft, and 37,000 sq m of commercial space.

The apartments will initially be priced from US$900 to US$1,100 per sq m while the commercial space will have an average price of US$2,650 per sq m.

According to Gamuda Land managing director Chow Chee Wah, some 80% of the project would comprise residences that would be undertaken in seven parcels.

“The 82ha for the project is one of the last sizeable land parcels available in Ho Chi Minh City. Our goal is to meet the needs of Vietnamese who want good value-for-money products and prefer innovative lifestyle projects,” he told StarBiz.

The master plan for the development has been approved and the project is expected to commence in the third quarter of this year and will take seven to eight years.

Chow said besides a good concept, facilities and layout, the project’s unique selling proposition would be a 20ha integrated park.

“We are confident the project will do well as it caters to the growing demand for quality residences in line with the rapid urbanisation and rising per capita income among the Vietnamese.

“Our target markets include young executives, professionals and mid-level management executives,” he added.

Close to 65% of Vietnam’s 87 million population are aged 35 years and below. Ho Chi Minh City has a population of more than nine million and 60,000 expatriates.

There are also the Viet Kieus - Vietnamese who are residing abroad - who are also buying property for their own use and for investment.

Chow said the dong’s devaluation had contributed to more Vietnamese resorting to property investment as a reliable savings instrument instead of saving their money in the bank.

With the upcoming closure of all gold trading floors in Vietnam at the end of this month, there will also be a re-channelling of capital flows into the property market.

Sacomreal was previously involved in providing real estate services but has since expanded to developing and marketing of high-quality apartments.