Amata IP in Bien Hoa City, southern Dong Nai Province. --Photo Cafef.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Thai industrial estate developer Amata Corporation has partnered with Tuan Chau group to develop a US$1.6-billion industrial park (IP) in Quang Ninh province.

A Tuan Chau Group representative told Biz Hub that the two sides have formed Tuan Chau-Amata joint venture company, with Amata owning 70 per cent stake and Tuan Chau Group holding 30 per cent.

According the Bangkokpost.com, the Amata City Halong Industrial Estate will span 36,000rai (or 5,760ha). In late 2013, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh had agreed on the joint venture's investment procedures for a $2-billion hi-tech park and urban townships in Quang Yen, Uong Bi districts, and Ha Long City.

According the bangkokpost.com, the company plans to start developing the first phase of the IP on 3,125rai (500ha) next year, with an investment capital of US$60 million, and finish it by 2018. The IP is expected to house some 1,000 factories.

The bangkokpost.com also said that to complete it by 2030, the construction of the whole IP will require $1.6 billion and 10 to 15 years in ten phases.

CEO of Amata Viet Nam Somhatai Panichewa said they submitted an investment application in May, 2015 and are expecting to get an approval by the third quarter of this year.

The CEO noted that she expects construction in the first phase to start next year. Once completed, the IP will generate an investment value of up to $5 billion and 300,000 jobs for local people.

The CEO told bangkokpost.com that in order to raise funds for investments, Amata VN is planning to sell 139.83 million shares in an initial public offering (IPO) during the third quarter.

Amata Corporation, which planned to pump 4.5 billion baht into domestic and overseas investments in 2015, told the Thai newspaper that it will focus on Vietnam this year.

Amata VN expects that investors from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan will show the willingness to move their production base to Vietnam, especially for establishing high-technology electronics companies. It plans to develop land in the IP estate for high-tech investments.

The Thai corporation has forecast that more corporations and giant high-technology companies will invest in Vietnam; Samsung and LG have already moved their production bases there.

Amata Viet Nam was established in December 1994 as a joint venture of Amata Corporation Public Company Limited, Thailand, and Sonadezi Bien Hoa, Vietnam, a state-owned developer of industrial estates in Dong Nai province. To date, they have developed Bien Hoa 1, Bien Hoa 2, and Go Dau IZ.

As a real estate and hospitality service developer, Tuan Chau Group was set up in 1997 in Quang Ninh province. Apart from owning Tuan Chau Island, the group is now building a cruise ship terminal worth $119 million and a golf course worth $7.1 million on the island.— VNS