[table]


CapitaLand, Citi set up Vietnam
property fund
29-FEB-2008 Intellasia |
Reuters
Feb 29, 2008 - 7:00:00
AM
|



[/table]Singapore's CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's largest property
developer, said it was setting up a US$300 million property fund in Vietnam and
forging a partnership with a Vietnamese firm to seek investment opportunities in
the country.

CapitaLand (CATL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research), with a market
capitalisation of US$13 billion, said it wants to develop residential properties
and commercial and residential mixed developments in Vietnam.

It is
setting up the fund with Citi Private Bank, part of Citigroup (C.N: Quote,
Profile, Research), and will take a 30% stake in the fund.

"Many clients
are interested in investing in real estate as an asset class and interested in
gaining exposure to Vietnam," Jerome Gates, managing director of global
investment real estate, Citi Global Wealth management, told a news conference.


Executives of CapitaLand also signed an agreement in Hanoi with the Nam
Thang Long Investment Joint-Stock Company.

With Vietnam's economy
growing at more than 8% a year, real estate is booming in the underdeveloped
Southeast Asian country. Industry experts forecast property growth of between 20
and 30% this year.

CapitaLand has developed The Vista, a high-end
apartment complex in HCM City that sold out last summer before it was built, at
prices ranging from US$1,350 per sq metre to US$2,700 per sq metre.

The
company has built other serviced residential complexes in HCM City and Hanoi.


CapitaLand Group CEO Liew Mun Leong told reporters the firm wanted to
double the number of houses it develops in Vietnam to 6,000 in the next
three-years from 2,800 homes currently.

Liew said that although there
was a global financial credit crisis, "we can continue to help Vietnam to
develop and grow."