Thanh Phuoc Primary School is named as second CapitaLand Hope School in Vietnam. — Photo courtesy of CapitaLand

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Singapore's property developer CapitaLand Limited (CapitaLand) and its wholly owned serviced-residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), celebrated its 20th year in Viet Nam.

They marked the occasion with a contract to manage the first premier Ascott-branded serviced residence in the country.

In 1994, CapitaLand was one of the first international developers to enter Viet Nam with the development of the Hanoi Tower and Sofitel Plaza in Ha Noi. Meanwhile, Ascott pioneered the first international-standard serviced residence in Viet Nam that year with the launch of Somerset West Lake Hanoi.

In 1996, Ascott's second property, Somerset Chancellor Court HCM City became operational, followed by the opening of Somerset HCM City, Somerset Grand Hanoi and Hanoi Towers.

In 2006, CapitaLand opened its head office in HCM City. The apartment project, called The Vista, received overwhelming response from the Vietnamese people when it was launched in October 2007. Notwithstanding the challenging market, the project was completed in September 2011, according to schedule.

The construction of Mulberry Lane in Ha Noi commenced in September 2009. It was conferred the Greenmark Award by the Building Control Authority of Singapore.

In 2012, CapitaLand Vietnam launched PARCSpring, the first affordable residential project in Viet Nam. This is testament to CapitaLand's commitment to building good quality homes, while meeting the essential needs and budget of aspiring Vietnamese people. Also this year, the launch of Vista Verde in HCM City in September marked an important milestone for CapitaLand.

Chen Lian Pang, CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam, said, "After a couple of challenging years, the Viet Nam economy is improving and we see positive signs in the property sector. CapitaLand has a reliable track record of 20 years in Viet Nam, and will continue to deliver quality housing with new projects, which will be launched progressively in the next three years.

"We remain positive about the long-term prospects of the real estate market in Viet Nam and are committed to being a long-term real estate developer. We are well-positioned to ride on the strong potential growth of the residential market in Viet Nam.

"With CapitaLand's healthy balance sheet and financial flexibility, the current challenges will provide us opportunities to secure good investment opportunities in Viet Nam."

Mark Chan, Ascott's Viet Nam country general manager, said, "2014 marks our 20th year of operations in this country. Since 1994, we have steadily grown to become Viet Nam's largest international serviced residence owner-operator. To cap off this milestone year, we recently signed a contract to manage the first premier Ascott-brand serviced residence in Viet Nam, Ascott Waterfront Saigon, HCM City.

"With this signing, we have now more than 2,000 apartment units across 13 properties in the country, further establishing our leadership position in Viet Nam."

As CapitaLand expand its business in Viet Nam, the group, through its philanthropic arm CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), is also committed to strengthening its social investment in the country.

Since 2007, CHF has been supporting underprivileged children across the country. In 2011, CHF donated VND2.2 billion (US$105,000) to build a new two-storey school building and a library, as well as upgrade the existing school facilities in CapitaLand Nang Yen Primary Hope School. It provides 180 underprivileged children with a more conducive learning environment.

This year, CapitaLand started building the second Hope School in Long An province, Thuan Hoa District, for 135 students, which includes a new library, extracurricular activities room and a school yard.

The company is also committed to giving time and attention to schoolchildren through volunteer expeditions. Various other CSR initiatives, including blood donation drives, first-aid training and festive activities for street children have also been organised.

CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies, is headquartered and listed in Singapore. The company's businesses are in real estate and real estate fund management. It allocates 0.5 per cent of its net profit to its CapitaLand Hope Foundation to promote social growth and development of underprivileged children with respect to their education, healthcare and shelter needs.

CapitaLand's currently has presence in the four major Vietnamese cities of HCM City, Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Da Nang, in the residential and serviced residences sectors. In the residential sector, CapitaLand has a portfolio of close to 6,000 quality homes across six residential projects in HCM City and Ha Noi.

In the serviced residence sector, its wholly owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited, has a portfolio of more than 1,800 apartment units in 12 properties across the four major cities, making it the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in the country.

The Ascott Limited with three brands – Ascott, Citadines and Somerset - has more than 25,000 operating serviced residence units in key cities in the Asia–Pacific region, Europe and the Gulf region. More than 12,000 units are under development, amounting to a total of more than 38,000 units in 200 properties. — Source: CapitaLand