Binh Duong Province, Vietnam – Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (“Mapletree”) is pleased to announce today that it has signed an agreement to develop a US$400 million 75-hectare integrated business park in Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. This will be Mapletree’s maiden integrated business park development in Vietnam. At the same ceremony held in Binh Duong, Mapletree also celebrated the topping out of the first building of its exclusive 68-hectare logistics park located within the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) II.
The two events underscore the importance of Vietnam in Mapletree’s regional business focus. With these two projects, Mapletree has scaled up its business to cover logistics, industrial and commercial real estate in Vietnam. These will bring Mapletree’s total investments in Vietnam to about US$700 million, when all its projects are completed.
Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman of Mapletree said,” Mapletree is pleased to expand our footprint in Vietnam. The development of Mapletree Business City @ Binh Duong is an opportunity for us to expand on our first logistics investment in Vietnam and diversify our investments into other asset types. It is also an opportunity for us to scale up our business and bring our expertise in creating vibrant integrated mixed-use developments for ‘Work, Live and Play’ to Vietnam and is a testimony of Mapletree’s confidence in the long term economic growth and potential which Vietnam offers.”
According to a survey conducted by the Asian Business Council, Vietnam attracted a total of 772 new licensed projects with committed investment capital worth US$46.3 billion from January – August 2008. Within Vietnam, Binh Duong Province is the fourth largest recipient of the FDI.
Mr Cheng added, “Mapletree sees a lot of potential in Binh Duong Province. With its strategic location close to major seaports, airports and Ho Chi Minh City, we are keen to partner the province in its next phase of growth. We see the business park and logistics sectors as key growth areas within the province, with the demand from multi-national companies for more and better quality business space taking on an increasing significance in the years to come. ”
The topping out of the first building in Mapletree Logistics Park also saw Mapletree signing Letters of Intent (“LOI”) with six logistics customers for space in the soon to be opened park. As the only comprehensively planned logistics park in Binh Duong Province, Mapletree Logistics Park will house both non-bonded and bonded warehouses in a free trade zone. The first phase of Mapletree Logistics Park comprising 65,000 square metres of non-bonded warehousing space will be ready in November 2008. Another phase of 65,000 square metres of bonded space will be ready by early next year. There will also be on-site customs office to facilitate speedy customs clearance and documentation, an important feature for logistics companies.
