Former JV partners “went straight into the red”
The Paradise Resort in Vung Tau City, on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, could be redeveloped as a casino resort.
According to the Vietnam Investment Review, authorities in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province met last month with the Housing Development and Trading Joint Stock Company and Han-Guk Architects & Engineers to review a pair of proposed investment plans for the resort.
One plan for the 233-hectare (544-acre) property is an 18-hole golf course flanked by villas, hotels, shopping malls, floating resorts, amusement parks and an entertainment hall. The second plan includes two 27-hole golf courses with villas, hotels and a casino.
The Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee requires a $2 billion investment and a three-year development timeline.
In 1991, Vung Tau Paradise was licensed to Vietnamese Vung Tau Intourco Resort JSC and Taiwanese Paradise Development and Investment Company, with an expiration period of 25 years. When the joint venture expired at the end of 2015, of a total estimated investment capital of $97.2 million, only about $40 million had been disbursed.
In a 2016 report, VIR reported that the current resort was hobbled by “poor infrastructure featuring a 27-hole golf course and a housing area with only 54 units. The resort has not only not made any profit but went straight into the red.” The former firm “also failed to make good on its commitments to construct several of the designed components, including a 500-room hotel, a theatre and an entertainment playground,” the report stated.
The upcoming project must also create a link with BauTrung, another potential area for tourism development in the province.
