Phu Quoc island has the potential to become another Sentosa while prices for luxury villa and apartment on the island are much lower. — VNS Photo

Sam Ong, director of Savills Singapore, compared local Phu Quoc Island with Sentosa of Singapore, saying there were similarities in geography, natural beauty and tourism potential, adding that Phu Quoc is on the journey to becoming Viet Nam's Sentosa in the near future.

Ong said Sentosa used to be a small fishing village, but 20 years later, it was now a small tourist paradise. Ong also suggested Phu Quoc would enjoy similar success, with investors changing the island immensely in the future.

Singaporean investors attend Sun Group's realty event in Singapore. — Photo VNS

Thus, with Singapore realty investors tending to expand their investment portfolio outside the traditional market of Thailand and Bali (Indonesia), Phu Quoc was set to be the new destination.

Further, under the Monetary Administration of Singapore, investors had to pay another seven per cent tax on the value of their second real estate investment and another 10 per cent tax on the value of the third one. To avoid such high tax, a lot of Singaporeans had chosen to invest outside the country.

Savills Singapore said investors in Singapore, which has the third-highest number of rich people in the world, were "very fastidious", adding that they only eyed high-end projects with good profitability and prestigious investors.

Victor Hong, an investor with experience of the international realty market, said he was attracted to Sun Group projects as he had stayed at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort and was subsequently convinced about the potential.

At Sentosa, most of the two-bedroom beachfront apartments with an area of some 110sq.m2 cost $3 million (or some US $27,000 per sq.m.), while a very high value apartment close to the sandy beaches can cost nearly $7 million. The price of each villa at Sentosa is over $11 million.

Meanwhile, with the potential to become another Sentosa, a villa of Sungroup's Phu Quoc Resort costs between $1 million and $2 million, while an apartment costs some $150,000- $1 million.

According to Sungroup's representative, along with the prestige, popularity and quality of its resorts in the international market, the competitive prices, especially the commitment of a minimum nine per cent profit within 10 years, were attractions for realty products on Phu Quoc Island.

In the month of October, Sungroup is offering buyers of Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort and Condotel Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay a two-night stay at the 6-star JW Marriott Phu Quoc Resort & Spa Emerald Bay and other attractive deals.