Thua Thien-Hue province attracted 11 projects worth nearly VND2 trillion (US$87.1 million) in the first five months of this year.

This excludes the Laguna Lang Co project invested by Singapore’s Banyan Tree Group.

So far, the province has attracted 151 investment projects, with VND72.3 trillion of registered capital, including 36 foreign-invested projects with an investment of VND31.2 trillion.

Notably, large investment projects have been granted licences and are being implemented. The Prime Minister has approved the expansion of the Laguna Lang Co project, with a total investment capital of up to $2 billion, along with investment for a casino, as well as the solar power plant of Doan Son Thuy Investment Joint Stock Company, with an investment capital of VND1.15 trillion.

Located in the Chan May – Lang Co Economic Zone, the first phase of the Laguna Lang Co project includes Angsana Lang Co Hotel with 229 rooms and Banyan Tree Residences with 57 villas and an 18-hole golf course, with an initial capital of nearly $300 million.

According to the proposal of the investor, the casino occupies an area of ​​2.64ha with an investment capital of $250 million.

The Banyan Tree Group’s additional investment (compared to its existing hotel portfolio), includes increasing the number of hotel rooms from 2,180 to 3,178. Currently, the investor is preparing to open the casino entertainment complex to foreigners by 2021. The investor also expects to diversify the casino business in three phases, including the first phase with 500 game machines and 50 poker tables.

Tourism has always been a strength of the province and is also one of the most attractive fields of investment today. Other foreign investment projects in Thua Thien-Hue focus on cement, beer, mining, transportation, garments, hotels, restaurants and resorts. Few projects focus on agro-forestry production and agro-forestry-fishery processing.

Currently, the province is trying to attract investment by creating a favourable investment climate to mobilise the highest social resources, prioritising resources for investment in infrastructure, production and economic development, ensuring high economic growth associated with environmental protection and social security and concentrating on overcoming the consequences of marine environmental incidents.

In the short term, Thua Thien-Hue province plans to improve the quality of business associations. The region is investing more than VND2 trillion to implement the key programme of economic and technical infrastructure as well as industrial development in 2018, aiming to further improve the infrastructure of the entire province as well as service capacity while supporting production and business activities. — VNS