» » HCM City offers possibilities to overseas Vietnamese

A recent meeting in Ho Chi Minh City saw municipal authorities call for overseas Vietnamese to invest in a series of infrastructure projects in the city.

Held to present the city’s development direction till 2010 and vision to 2020, many of the meeting’s participants expressed their intention to invest, if open policies were put in place.

Vice chairwoman of the city’s People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Hong, said the city would do its utmost to attract investment from overseas Vietnamese by creating favourable surroundings for investment.

Director of the city’s Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, Truong Trong Nghia, said the municipality expects overseas Vietnamese to act as a bridge, connecting the city’s authorities with other foreign investors.

Nghia explained that the city is in dire need of “big money” to develop its infrastructure, especially roading, commercial centres and service sector.

The capital needed to develop the city’s traffic systems alone amounts to 7.9 billion USD till 2010 and 22 billion USD till 2020.

Some Build-Operate-Transfer projects that require cash injections include the 17km Metro Route No.5 to 1.53 billion USD, the 6km Metro Route No. 6 worth 540 million USD and the 480ha Safari Park priced at 310 million USD.

Meanwhile, secretary general of the HCM City Real Estate Association, Do Thi Loan, advised overseas Vietnamese to sink more money into the city’s real estate market.

Interest in apartments and offices for rent in the city is increasing rapidly, especially those in newly-planned areas including Thu Thiem and Thanh Da, she said.

Ni Na Du, a Viet kieu living in the US and director of a computer company, said her company plans to invest in the construction of high rise buildings in the South Sai Gon and Cu Chi districts.

According to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese HCM City branch, the city has 553 companies set up by overseas Vietnamese with total registered capital of 5.4 trillion VND, increases of 34 percent and 50 percent in terms of quantity and value, respectively.

(Source: VNA)

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