Japanese capital flows into realty in Vietnam
MANY JAPANESE firms such as Mitsubishi, Maeda, Kajima, Sumitomo and Creed Group have made investments worth tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in the Vietnamese realty market over the past year.
For example, Mitsubishi Group has invested US$290 million (Bt9.7 billion) in a joint venture with Vietnam’s Bitexco to develop the Manor Central Park here.
In the first stage of cooperation, the two sides agreed to develop 240 low-rise buildings and two high-rise buildings with 1,036 apartments.
Last September, Kajima Overseas Asia spent $500 million to establish the Indochina Kajima Development joint venture with Indochina Capital. They plan to invest in Vietnam’s real estate market in the next 10 years.
More recently, Sanyo Home invested in the field via cooperation with Tien Phat under the Hoa Binh property business and construction joint stock company to invest in the Ascent Lakeside project in Ho Chi Minh City.
Sumitomo will invest in the Nhat Tan-Noi Bai urban area here along with Vietnam’s BRG Group.
Toshihiko Muneyoshi, president of the investment fund Creed Group, said that with a population exceeding 93 million people, increasing incomes and rapid urbanisation, the demand for houses among young customers is huge.
Each year, 50,000-60,000 new households are expected to be built in Hanoi and HCM City, he said, adding that the fund will focus on the middle-range segment and seek more local partners.
Japanese investors have secured their position in Vietnam in recent years with 3,411 projects worth near?ly $44 billion.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first six months of this year, Japan rose to first position among 94 countries and territories with investment projects in Vietnam.