[Central and Southern] Projects

[lovesaigon]

ROMANTIC TOWN

Japanese to put big bucks in Vietnam tourism project

Japanese investors will pump in at least US$1.2 billion to build a 5,000 ha resort town in southern Vietnam in what will be the biggest tourism project in the country.

Leaders of Lam Dong province announced Saturday that the province had allowed four giant groups, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Limtec, to build the Romantic Town on the Dankia highland in Lac Duong district, 10 km from the hill resort of Dalat.

The town, considered a second Dalat, will be home to 30,000 villas, numerous 5-star hotels, hospitals, schools, theaters, churches, and 36-hole golf courses.

It will also have 3,000 hectares of protected forest.

The province plans to pay over $15.6 million in compensation for acquiring land and relocating more than 200 families before the second quarter of 2006.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment originally licensed three Singaporean companies in 1997 to build the resort but financial problems forced them to pull out.

Dankia is 300 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Reported by Lam Vien – Translated by Hoang Bao

(from www.thanhniennews.com and other Vietnam newspapers).

[vkameleon]

IMO Dalat is not that beautiful even though many Vietnamese said so especially the brown lakes.

[lovesaigon]

Originally Posted by wantuhoa

IMO Dalat is not that beautiful even though many Vietnamese said so especially the brown lakes.

I don't think so. Dalat is worth to be the biggest travelling hub in Vietnam, because of its natural beauty: the flowers, the cool weather, the trees, the villages.... It's worth for that.

[coolink]

I have to agree with wantuhoa

Dalat is beautiful to Vietnamese only.......because the city setting is different than the rest of VN, therefore Vietnamese think dalat is nice .......if you visit many towns and cities in other asian countries you'll see Dalat is a joke.

personally I think dalat is better 17-20 yrs ago...eventhough Dalat like the rest of VN was poor, the architectures were intact, no tubehouses everywhere, beautiful art deco with red roof everywhere you go........so much like a provincial town in France or Italy or anywhere in Europe............horse carriages were all over the city.....I mean ALL OVER , never see such many horses carriages in my life...........but those images are now replace with huge ass tourist buses, and taxis.............I went back last time , don't see a single horse on the street.

even the natural setting, Dalat used to have that big ass "Doi Cu" park.......now they surrounded the entire park with fences that run for miles for the golf course....and guess what, they only have 100 members.....when hundred thousands of dalat population are squeeze in a litte town with little room to breathe.

and right in the middle of town, that "ond dao" area are covered with slumps makes ya feel like you're looking at Nhieu Loc thi nghe before the renaissance

so inconclusion dalat is beautiful, but the people killed it

[lovesaigon]

I agree with you. But what you'd mentioned is in the center of Dalat, not all part. Dalat still has many beautiful scences. And I think, when it is invested with the big companies like this, it will be more beautifull, and more things to discovery. I support with the projects like this. If don't, Dalat's still a hidden charm, and will never be developed. And it will soon be destroyed by many Vietnameses with their own needs, like cutting the woods and grow vegetables. It's so stupied to destroy Dalat beauty .

[Baria]

Dalat is beautiful, still. You have to give the city room to grow. What you are talking about is Dalat of 2005, not Dalat of 1970's. I saw horse carriages in parks like Hồ Than Thở, Thung Lũng Tình Yêu,... Dalat still have its own uniqueness like the lakes, the vegetable and flower farms spotting the city's landscapes, the hills, the winding roads, the water falls,... You name them! Dalat is a beautiful city, not a beautiful, but sleepy small town like it used to be. Sorry, it changed!

[Tosco]

Interesting project...

[tq]

An US$157 million international airport will be built on Phu Quoc district, home to Phu Quoc Island, a major tourist destination in southern Vietnam, said a transport official Monday.

Le Minh Hoang, director of the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang province, said the 800 hectare airport will be capable of handling some 2.5 million passengers per year.

The airport, expected to be operational by 2008 would add to the three international airports in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, the province would invest $440,000 next year in upgrading its Rach Gia airport terminal in Phu Quoc.

A port harboring international cruise ships capable of carrying up to 2,000 passengers will also be built in 2007 in the same district.

Every year the island receives more than 100,000 visitors, 40 percent of which are foreigners.
Under an ambitious draft drawn up by the National Civil Aviation Administration, Vietnam will have six international airports by 2015.

Reported by Quang Minh Nhat – Translated by Hoang Bao


an huge investment if you compare it with that of the TSN new Terminal ($182 million) and the current terminal of Noi Bai

[Saigoneseguy]

Phu Quoc has already a very good airport, why built this one? And it presents only as an important hub for Saigon-Bangkok lines....100,000 visitors per year and where do 2.5 mil passengers come from?

It's worth thinking ahead but I've been there in 03 and this island's potential is somewhat debatable for me.

[Pho-sure]

Need to think ahead. Phu Quoc's tourism sector will take off within the next few years.

[another_viet]

oooo smart..... gud point

[coolink]

baria you and I don't speak on the same page......always seems like I go west, you go east, I'm looking for queen Elizabeth........you're looking for eskimos

I'm not talking about dalat growing or not growing
I'm talking about the architectures of Dalat......and if for 1 second you think Dalat is beautiful in term of architecture then you should learn more of the history of architectures and Dalat the city itself
and 17yrs ago is about the late 80s-to early 90s not the 70s

take a famous and experience architect around Dalat now and tell him Dalat architecture is beautiful. He will choke U to death.

tube houses every freaking where......dirty kiosks and shops every freaking corner, go to Webshots and search for pictures of Dalat and tell me Dalat is beautiful in general aside from the remaining few buildings left by the French...the universsity, church, etc...

of course they should expand, but if they don't know what they're doing they're chopping off all the trees and natural resources for urbanize......there are still lots of wasted land in the inner city....I know this , I explored the place on foot for days.....there are emtply spaces in the inner city that people use it for garbage dump..

take a lloook at this nice dalat in the early 90s
this is what you call perfect preverved art deco architecture
[IMG][/IMG]

look at dalat now
you seriously call these buildings beautiful?
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[coolink]

horse carriages that you see around "than tho" are for tourists
the horses carriages that I saw when I was there in the 80s were the main transportation of the city, women used it to bring their maerchandise to markets, students used it to go to school , people used it to get from 1 poin to another, that was why Dalat was green and free of car poluttion.

[coolink]

another nice picture of the complete art deco architectures in dalat before the war [IMG][/IMG]

[lovesaigon]

HANOI (AFX) - The world's largest chipmaker Intel has asked the Vietnamese government for a license to build a chip plant worth 605 mln usd in Saigon Hitech Park - Ho Chi Minh City, a government official said.


Saigon Hitech Park

'Intel applied for licensing with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on Wednesday,' a ministry official said, according to Agence France-Presse.

'We expect that all the administrative procedures will end soon as this is a huge project for Vietnam's information and technology sector.'

Under Vietnamese regulations, the project needs authorisation from several ministries before being submitted to the prime minister for a final approval.

Intel officials declined any immediate comment.

According to the daily Tuoi Tre newspaper, the plant will cover 46.7 hectares and employ 2,000 local workers.

In late 2003, Intel signed an agreement with FPT, a semi-private Vietnamese IT company, to be its first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in Vietnam.

Under the agreement, Intel sells central processing units, main boards and other components to FPT at preferential prices for the manufacture of desktops, laptops and servers under the Vietnamese company's Elead brand.

Last June, Intel president Paul Otellini said his company was already enjoying growing sales in the communist nation, the fastest growing PC market among the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

Source - Forbes

[Saigoneseguy]

It's so regretable...perhaps if one lives in the jungle, he can't see how beautiful the jungle is.

[Baria]

Interesting! A growing city of 2006 has to keep 1980's atmosphere and the primative mode of transportation. So interesting!! New York's streets were originally built for horses and carriages, now we only find a few carrying tourists around Central Park starting from Park Plaza! Bad New York! Shame on New York!!!

One horse carriage goes one way; another goes the other way. That makes it a two-way street! A glass is half full, and a glass half empty. That makes different views. I don't feel uncomfortable while in VN, and that's why I keep comming back. I don't go to the places that I don't like the people or the place itself. Thank God, I still have the choice!

[Pho-sure]

I agree, we must move on with time. There is only so much of the past that you could preserve. Let's not turn Da Lat into an amusement park for tourists or something.

[Saigoneseguy]

It's a matter of reminiscence and conserving traditional values, Baria ah.

[pepsis]

Originally Posted by saigon_monsooner

It's a matter of reminiscence and conserving traditional values, Baria ah.

"Baria ah" I like that. Nice mix of Vietnamese and English