West Lake project gets green light

February 06, 2006 | 18:32
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A long-delayed property project worth more than $300 million – to develop an area west of Hanoi’s West Lake – received its license just before the traditional Tet holiday.

The land will ease Hanoi’s growing pains

Sung Koo Yi, chairman of the Korean Consortium for the West-West Lake project, told Vietnam Investment Review that the license, although received long after expected, was still very welcome by the investors.
“We still have committed to the project and are eager to start it as soon as possible,” Yi said.
The Vietnamese government said it encouraged the project, but still needed to carefully consider big projects like this one.
The government in principal encourages such projects to develop urban areas in Hanoi.
“We have proven to the Vietnamese government that we [participants of the consortium] have got enough capability to implement such projects because we are all big enough, both in investment capital and technical experiences,” Yi said.
Yi said apart from its business significance, the project is an example of the friendship between Vietnam and Korea. It was mentioned by the Korean Prime Minister in his visit to Vietnam last year.
Through this project, Yi said he wanted to share the experience and know-how of developing a city in a short-term and stable way.
“In Korea we have developed similar projects so it is great for us to cooperate with Hanoi to implement this project, especially currently, as the lack of accommodation and infrastructure system is in a serious situation,” he said.
Construction experience and know-how, Yi said, is not the only thing Hanoi needs now; it also needs good operation and management.
The Korean consortium proposed this project, which consists of five Korean engineering and construction companies, while the Daewoo Engineering and Construction will play the key role in the consortium.
According to the proposal, the consortium will develop an area of 207 hectares, turning it into a modern residential, commercial and office area.
The area, located in the land of three districts: Cau Giay, Tay Ho and Tu Liem, will be a new administration centre of Hanoi with modern buildings.
The office of central authorities, financial ex-change centres and cultural and entertainment centres will be included in this area.
Also planned for the area are trees, lakes, a garden, a Friendship Park and a City Statue for Peace.
Accommodation will be in the southern part of the development, with many high-rise buildings of from 2.5 to nine storeys, villas and garden-villas, entertainment centres and car parks.
This project is part of the larger Hanoi New Town project, which covers a total area of 8,830 hectares.
The bigger project is proposed to develop in 20 years. It began in 2001 and will be completed in three phases: 2001 - 2010, 2011-2015 and 2015 - 2020.
The Hanoi New Town will be an important part of the city and is expected to hold 750,000 to 1 million residents by 2020. It is a vital solution to help Hanoi alleviate its population and urban development pressure, especially in the Old Quarter.


No. 747/February 6-12, 2006

By Bich Ngoc

vir.com.vn

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