BT : Strong, growing demand for quality industrial space

Business Times - 15 Apr 2010

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL
Strong, growing demand for quality industrial space

By CHUANG PECK MING

ASCENDAS first set foot in Vietnam as one of the investors in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park I in 1996, built by Sembcorp Industrial Parks.

But it was only a decade after - in December 2007 - that the total business space solutions provider got to build its own industrial park there, in partnership with Protrade Corporation.

'Vietnam is an attractive emerging market where there is a strong and growing demand for quality industrial space,' says Han Ann Foong, country head of Ascendas Vietnam.

Ascendas's 500-hectare industrial park in Binh Duong Province in south Vietnam, when completed, will support a working community of 52,000 people.

'The park will provide infrastructure and facilities for light and clean industries such as food and beverage, electronics and health care, within a trademark work-play-live environment,' Mr Han says.

Work on the park is expected to start in late 2010 or early 2011 and be fully completed by mid-2014.

'With the Ascendas-Protrade Singapore Tech Park, we aim to set standards in quality business space in this market,' Mr Han says. 'These include well-designed ready-built facilities with good quality finishes, build-to-suit facilities customised to our customers' requirements as well as prepared land parcels.'

However, Mr Han cautions that investors in Vietnam may have to deal with laws and policies that are still in the making as well as poor infrastructure. But these are short-term problems. 'We believe that over the longer term, the Vietnam market hold promise for investors like Ascendas who are prepared to ride and overcome any short-term difficulties.'

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