Realty giant pledges $893mn to develop Vietnam’s northwestern province Vehicles are seen on the expressway connecting Hanoi and Lao Cai.Tuoi Tre A mammoth Vietnamese realty developer has pledged to invest more than VND20 trillion (US$892.86 million) in different projects, including construction of a $250 million airport, in a northwestern province. Sun Group will pump the huge amount of investment into Lao Cai between 2016 and 2020, the company said at a conference held to attract investment to the northwestern region in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday. The realty developer, based in the central city of Da Nang, has earmarked VND10 trillion ($446.43 million) to build 6,000 three- to five-star hotel rooms, a shopping mall, a convention center and a recreation area in Sa Pa, a top tourist destination in Lao Cai. Sun Group will also build a VND1.2 trillion ($53.57 million) five-star hotel in the heart of Sa Pa and a VND4 trillion ($178.57 million) entertainment complex and convention center capable of receiving two million guests a year. The most remarkable investment is the project to set up an airport worth more than VND5.6 trillion ($250 million) in Lao Cai, according toThe Saigon Times Online. The Sun Group investment was among many deals signed at the Monday conference, where 170 participants, including officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ho Chi Minh City administration, and multiple travel companies gathered to discuss solutions for boosting tourism development for the northwestern Vietnamese region. Besides Lao Cai, the region consists of 11 other provinces, including Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, Hoa Binh, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang. It also covers 21 districts of the north-central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An. The northwestern region is home to famous destinations including Dien Bien Phu relics in Dien Bien, the Dong Van Karst Plateau Geo-Park in Ha Giang, Sa Pa and Fansipan Mountain in Lao Cai, and Moc Chau Plateau in Son La. Once completed, the Lao Cai Airport will contribute greatly to traffic infrastructure development in the northwestern region, thereby facilitating easier travel there. Vacationers can currently reach the region by road from Hanoi, or by air to Son La Airport and Dien Bien Airport. “In the next five years, the northwestern traffic system will stand behind no regions,” a representative from the Ministry of Transport said at the conference. The transport ministry is developing roads to connect Hanoi with Lao Cai, Bac Kan, Hoa Binh and Lang Son, and is upgrading the Hanoi – Lao Cai railway. The meeting on Monday was the first of its kind to be held to attract investment to the northwestern region. The region is under the management of a government steering board, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Some 9.5 million tourists, including 1.5 million international visitors, have visited northwestern Vietnam this year, but the figures “do not live up to the potential of the region,” Phuc said at the conference. “We need a more open mechanism for attracting investment, and a policy to raise funds from the private sector,” he said. TUOI TRE NEWS