US$1 billion golf course to target wealthy foreigners
Vientiane Times, 20 Feb 2010
A Vietnamese firm is investing about US$1 billion to build a golf course and luxurious villas in Vientiane, raising questions about whether such a project will be profitable.
The Long Thanh Golf Investment and Business Joint Stock Company plans to build an 18-hole golf course, a five-star hotel, about 2,000 luxury villas, a school and a hospital on 557 of 1,800 hectares in the Dongphosy protected area, about 25km south of Vientiane city centre.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the largest Vietnamese investment project in Laos took place last month. It is hoped the first nine holes of the golf course will be ready at the end of this year in time for the 450th anniversary of Vientiane as the Lao capital.
But quite a few people have raised questions about the profitability of the development, pointing out that not many Lao people play golf, mostly government leaders and some wealthy individuals. At present, there are only two golf courses open for business in Vientiane, and only one of them has a lot of customers.
They also say Lao people cannot afford to buy a luxury villa, and wonder whether the whole project is viable.
Vientiane Vice Mayor Anouphab Tounalom said at a press conference on Wednesday the Vietnamese investor would not target Lao people as its main customers but wealthy people from other countries who like to play golf.
He said according to the project's economic feasibility study, the investor planned to regularly host international golf events to attract players from around the world. The investor has contacts with a wide network of golf players.
“Many people who play golf are rich. They sometimes fly planes just to get a particular golf course,” Mr Anouphab said, adding that the investor would make money from golf course fees, residential fees and payment for the use of other facilities.
Other officials said the people who would buy villas would not be Lao people but foreigners, explaining that Lao people would not buy such expensive real estate while they have the option to build their own house on their own land.
They pointed out that some foreigners can own a house in Laos.
The National Assembly has approved a new investment promotion law, allowing foreigners who invest more than US$500,000 in Laos to obtain residential land use rights, a precondition to owning property in Laos.
Wealthy people like to own property near a golf course so they can visit the course when they're on holiday, officials said.
They also said the Vietnamese investor had decided to invest in Laos because he envisaged long term profitability. Land in other countries is becoming expensive, making investments there unattractive.
Laos has plenty of land due to its small population so the country can offer cheap land concessions and leases to foreigners for investment purposes.
At the same time, global trends will make travel around the world easier. Asean is set to develop along the lines of an EU-like community, in which all member countries share a single market and currency. Travel within Asean member countries will be easier, the same as in the European Union.
US$1 billion golf course to target wealthy foreigners
Vientiane Times, 20 Feb 2010
A Vietnamese firm is investing about US$1 billion to build a golf course and luxurious villas in Vientiane, raising questions about whether such a project will be profitable.
The Long Thanh Golf Investment and Business Joint Stock Company plans to build an 18-hole golf course, a five-star hotel, about 2,000 luxury villas, a school and a hospital on 557 of 1,800 hectares in the Dongphosy protected area, about 25km south of Vientiane city centre.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the largest Vietnamese investment project in Laos took place last month. It is hoped the first nine holes of the golf course will be ready at the end of this year in time for the 450th anniversary of Vientiane as the Lao capital.
But quite a few people have raised questions about the profitability of the development, pointing out that not many Lao people play golf, mostly government leaders and some wealthy individuals. At present, there are only two golf courses open for business in Vientiane, and only one of them has a lot of customers.
They also say Lao people cannot afford to buy a luxury villa, and wonder whether the whole project is viable.
Vientiane Vice Mayor Anouphab Tounalom said at a press conference on Wednesday the Vietnamese investor would not target Lao people as its main customers but wealthy people from other countries who like to play golf.
He said according to the project's economic feasibility study, the investor planned to regularly host international golf events to attract players from around the world. The investor has contacts with a wide network of golf players.
“Many people who play golf are rich. They sometimes fly planes just to get a particular golf course,” Mr Anouphab said, adding that the investor would make money from golf course fees, residential fees and payment for the use of other facilities.
Other officials said the people who would buy villas would not be Lao people but foreigners, explaining that Lao people would not buy such expensive real estate while they have the option to build their own house on their own land.
They pointed out that some foreigners can own a house in Laos.
The National Assembly has approved a new investment promotion law, allowing foreigners who invest more than US$500,000 in Laos to obtain residential land use rights, a precondition to owning property in Laos.
Wealthy people like to own property near a golf course so they can visit the course when they're on holiday, officials said.
They also said the Vietnamese investor had decided to invest in Laos because he envisaged long term profitability. Land in other countries is becoming expensive, making investments there unattractive.
Laos has plenty of land due to its small population so the country can offer cheap land concessions and leases to foreigners for investment purposes.
At the same time, global trends will make travel around the world easier. Asean is set to develop along the lines of an EU-like community, in which all member countries share a single market and currency. Travel within Asean member countries will be easier, the same as in the European Union.
how many airbus you can purchase with $1 Billion US dollars?
Well, that is not too bad to have nice golf course in Laos but I prefer to have more factories and more modern farming to raise pigs ( pork) , cow (beef ) and chicken with 1 billion dollars and feed 1.3 billions Chinese who import tons of pork from Mexico. Also south Korea and Japan import tons of beef from US and Canada. So how many jobs that golf course could provide for the local Laotian. How ofter the multimillionaires and billionaires would visit Laos per year and don't get me wrong that golf course and 5 stars hotel are good for Laos .
-- Edited by Dark Angel on Monday 22nd of February 2010 08:50:26 AM
Well....It's all depends on which Airbus you r talking about! If it's a small one 319,320 you probably get 5/6 of them. If it's 330 wide body, you'd get about 3. If it's A380, then you'd get just 2 w/good discount & tough negotiation. OK?
