Meada to develop high-end property project in HCM City

• Phu Quoc exports nearly 1 million m3 of saline sand
• Apparel industry faces tough times despite high export growth
• Vietnam expects to earn US$3.3 billion from cashew exports

According to Tetsuo Kida, general director of Meada-Thien Duc, the developer of Waterina Suites, this project will be a milestone of Japanese technology and style reaching the high-end segment of the Vietnamese property market.

Different from other Japanese developers who are mostly involved in investment sharing or management projects in Vietnam, Meada will be directly involved in all steps of this project, from investment contribution, design, construction, project appraisal, and even project management after the construction is finished.

Meada has been operating in Vietnam for many years with outstanding projects, such as the construction of Damin Power Plant in 1997, Tan Son Nhat Airport Terminal in 2004, and currently Metro Line 1 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Waterina Suites was designed by Kengo Kuma, a famous Japanese architect who is the author of more than 70 famous construction works worldwide, including Harbour in Sydney (Australia), Folk Art Museum in China, and Saint-Denis Paris Terminal in France.

With prices starting from $3,100 per square metre, Meada Thien Duc committed that the quality of Waterina Suites will be an equal to those in Tokyo.

“Japanese customers have been favouring high-end apartment units since the 1960s. When the infrastructure system in Vietnam improves, I do believe that apartment units will also be more popular in Vietnam,” Tetsuo Kida told VIR.

The participation of Meada in particular and other Japanese real estate developers in the Vietnamese real estate market has highlighted the sector’s potential.

Masakazu Yamaguchi, CEO of Creed Group, which is also cooperating with domestic developers in Vietnam, said that investments from Japan in education, IT, and real estate are on the rise.

The real estate market, according to Yamaguchi, shows high demand. “In Southeast Asia, Vietnam is the most interesting market for Creed Group,” he confirmed.

Another big fish from Japan that recently joined the Vietnamese real estate market is Kajima, which teamed up with Indochina Capital to develop a range of property projects in Vietnam with the total investment capital of nearly $1 billion. This newly established joint venture will develop residential, hospitality, and resort projects in Hanoi, Danang, and Ho Chi Minh City.

After announcing its joint venture with Indochina Land, Kajima is actively pushing the progress of its projects. Accordingly, the three first hotels will be officially announced at the end of 2017. These will be the first partisans of a hotel chain developed by the Kajima-Indochina joint venture in the time to come.

“Japanese people are famous for their strict discipline and technology, therefore projects with Japanese involvement focus heavily on quality, comfort, and efficiency,” said Kida.

One of the very first investors in the Vietnamese real estate market from Japan was Tokyu, which is currently developing the $1.2-billion Tokyu Garden in the southern province of Binh Duong, 30 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City. This project will consist of approximately 7,500 residential houses, commercial facilities, and offices.

Many other Japanese investors joined the field, including Mitsubishi Group, Daibiru, the Global, Hankyu Realty and Nishi Nippon Railroad.