At the APEC Summit, the central city of Da Nang has called for investment in nine projects in tourism and entertainment worth an estimated US$500 million. It says it wants the development done as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Build-Own-Operate (BOO) models.

Deputy director of the city’s tourism department, Nguyen Xuan Binh told Viet Nam News that the business forum was a big chance for the city’s tourism industry to show its power and potential for co-operation and investment.

He said a horse-racing project, planned on 500,000sq.m in Cam Le District, was the biggest project with a proposed investment capital of $200 million, while Ngu Hanh Son (Marble Mountains) Cultural and Historical Park has called for investment of $87 million.

Binh said the city also called for investment in the first underground shopping centre on Son Thuy Beach in coastal Ngu Hanh Son District with a proposed $40 million.

“We call for investment from foreign investors during our promotions in South Korea, Japan and Europe. The city will ensure favourable conditions for investors with flexible policies and positive support as well as administrative reform,” Binh said.

“The city also has an eye on calling local and foreign investment in a cruise port and piers, public parks, an international cuisine centre and a dog-race arena,” he said.

Binh said the projects would help turn the city into a centre of tourism, shopping and finance in central Viet Nam as well as a rendezvous of UNESCO-recognised world heritage features such as Hue Monument Complex, Hoi An Town and My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam Province; and Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Son Doong Cave in Quang Binh Province.

According to the Da Nang Investment Promotion and Support Agency, Da Nang has attracted 43 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth $60 million in the first eight months this year, 4.6 times the amount for the same period last year.

The city now has 461 FDI projects worth more than $3.6 billion, mostly in tourism, services, property and industry.

Da Nang encourages investors in high-tech industries and high-quality services in the form of public-private partnerships (PPP), as well as investment in waste treatment, infrastructure development, and solar and wind power.

Earlier this year, the city listed 68 PPP projects, 22 of them in the high-tech sector. From 2017-20, the city plans to attract investment worth $1.4 billion from domestic and foreign businesses. — VNS