Thai investor plans giant $800 million industrial park in Vietnam

The Vietnamese subsidiary of Thailand’s industrial estate developer Amata Corporation is ready to invest $200 million in the first phase of its second industrial park in Vietnam.

The park will be located in Long Thanh district in Dong Nai province, a strategic location near Ho Chi Minh City, according to Vietnam's National Assembly website.

Amata Vietnam Pcl will follow in the steps of other Thai retail giants including Berli Jucker Corporation and Central Group, underlining the potential international investors see in Vietnam.

The total overall budget for the project, known as Amata City Long Thanh, is expected to hit $800 million. The complex will be divided into two sections: 40 per cent will be used for industrial purposes and 60 per cent for housing and commercial buildings.

Amata Vietnam Pcl Chief Executive Officer Somhatai Pnichewa told DealStreetAsia that: “We will start developing the industrial part first. For accommodation, we will start it once the government constructs the expressway, scheduled to start by 2019. By then the value of this project and the land will have risen sharply.”

Amata is investing in another strategic location in the south of Vietnam. Photo from industrialzone.vn

One of the three largest foreign industrial park developers in Vietnam, Amata said that the 1,300 hectare industrial park will be available for investors in 2017 before the park is completed in 2019.

The Long Thanh project is Amata's second in Vietnam following Bien Hoa City that opened in 1994. Both investments are located in Dong Nai province, a satellite city of Ho Chi Minh City and the gateway to the most developed economy in the country.

Bien Hoa City was a joint venture between Amata Corporation and Sonadezi Bien Hoa, a state owned industrial estate developer. This was the Thai corporation's first overseas industrial park investment.

Amata Vietnam is also applying for an investment license in another large industrial park complex in the north of Vietnam that would include industrial estates and residential buildings near a strategic deep sea port location.

Amata Corporation Public Company Limited is a Thai industrial estate developer established in 1989 with headquarters in Bangkok. It operates in Thailand and Vietnam and hosts global clients from industries such as the automotive, healthcare and food and beverage sectors.