CapitaLand signs Conditional Joint Venture Agreement for fifth residential project in Vietnam

Pipeline of homes in Vietnam increases to over 4,500


Vietnam, Hanoi, 28 October 2010 – CapitaLand, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CVH Cayman 10 Limited, held through another wholly-owned subsidiary, CapitaLand (Vietnam) Holdings, has signed a Conditional Joint Venture Agreement (“JVA”) with No Va Land Investment Group Corporation (“NovaLand”), a leading real estate developer in Vietnam, to jointly develop a residential site in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The signing ceremony held in Hanoi today was witnessed by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The approximately 9,000-square-metre site is located in Phuoc Long B Ward in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 9, an established populous area with amenities such as a supermarket, vocational school and planned sports and recreational facilities. CapitaLand and NovaLand plan to develop the site, located about 10 kilometres from the city’s Central Business District, into a residential development with approximately 500 apartments.

The residential development has an estimated total project development cost of US$40 million (approximately S$54.5 million). The incorporation of the joint venture company is subject to relevant approvals from the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam for the issuance of a foreign investment certificate. Upon approvals being obtained, CapitaLand will take a 70% stake in the project while NovaLand will own the remaining 30% stake from the injection of the site into the joint venture.

Mr Chen Lian Pang, CEO (Southeast Asia) of CapitaLand Commercial Limited and CEO of CapitaLand (Vietnam) Holdings, said, “We are confident of the outlook in Vietnam, underpinned by its strong economic growth, stable government and pro-growth regulatory environment. The country’s real estate market is supported by rapid urbanisation and a huge population of 86 million people of which more than half of them are under the age of 30. As urbanisation gathers pace and the middle class grows in tandem with the economy, demand for housing in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is set to rise.”

Mr Chen added, “We are pleased to partner NovaLand in our fifth residential project in Vietnam. NovaLand is a reputable developer that possesses deep domain knowledge and an extensive network in the local real estate realm. CapitaLand will continue to explore opportunities to extend its presence in other real estate segments in Vietnam through strategic partnerships. We target to grow our current total asset base of S$400 million in Vietnam to approximately S$2 billion over the next three to five years.”

Mr Bui Thanh Nhon, Chairman of No Va Land Investment Group Corporation, said: “This is our first collaboration with a foreign developer and we are pleased to partner CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies. With CapitaLand’s international experience and strong proven track records in real estate development and project management as well as real estate financial services, we are able to leverage on each other’s expertise and domain knowledge. We are confident that our first residential project in collaboration with CapitaLand will be successful and we hope that this will be the start of a fruitful and win-win partnership for more projects in the future.”

The site is strategically located at Do Xuan Hop Street, Phuoc Long B Ward in District 9, at the fringe of the city centre in Ho Chi Minh City. The development sits close to the future Ho Chi Minh - Long Thanh Highway and Hanoi Highway. It is within close proximity to the proposed Saigon Sport City & Saigon Golf Mixed-use Development projects, as well as Ho Chi Minh Vocational College of Technology and Saigon Hightech Park