The Import-Export Pan Pacific Group (IPPG) has asked the central city’s People’s Committee to allocate land for the development of the first international standard downtown duty-free zone and factory outlet centre.

General director of the IPPG Le Hong Thuy Tien made the request early this week, stating that the company had failed to negotiate land to build Golden Hills for Trung Nam Group last month.

She said the group planned to build the project on 7.7ha in the urban centre with an investment of VND10 trillion (US$434 million) but it could not seal a deal with Trung Nam Group for land due to booming property prices.

Vice director of the city’s Investment Promotion Agency Huynh Thi Lien Phuong told Viet Nam News the city had been seeking an appropriate area for the investor to commence the project.

Phuong said Da Nang International Airport and Tien Sa Seaport – two possible locations for developing a duty-free zone – were full so the city would have to find an alternative.

At the Spring Dialogue in March, chairman of the group, Jonathan Hanh Nguyen, urged the city to build a third terminal to ease congestion, and design an international standard duty-free zone and recreational area to funnel tourism towards Hoi An, Hue and Da Nang.

He said his company operated a new terminal at Cam Ranh Airport in Khanh Hoa Province, and Da Nang would be a new location for building a luxury shopping centre.

According to the city’s trade and industry department, Da Nang’s retail and service industry earned revenue of VND53.2 trillion (US$2.3 billion) – 15.3 per cent year-on-year growth – in 2018.

The city granted investment licences to eight projects worth $490 million and 11 other feasibility studies projects with an estimate of $3.5 billion at an investment promotion conference in March. — VNS