CapitaLand teaches the art of property development

Group fosters partnership with local partners and communities in Vietnam to educate them in real estate management.

CapitaLand on Monday unveiled a series of initiatives at the ‘Growing Partnerships and Building People’ event at Hanoi Towers to strengthen ties with local partners and communities in Vietnam. Vietnam has been earmarked as the Group's most important overseas market in Asia, after China. The event was graced by Mr Nguyen Tran Nam, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Construction of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Over 170 guests including Vietnamese government officials, local partners, the media, analysts and business associates attended the event, according to a CapitaLand report.

The initiatives included signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a training collaboration with The Academy of Managers for Construction and Cities (AMC), which is under the Vietnam Ministry of Construction. CapitaLand, through its Vietnam office as well as its in-house learning and development campus CapitaLand Institute of Management and Business (CLIMB), will collaborate with AMC to focus on training programmes relating to executive development and real estate management. The MOU will facilitate joint training and exchange programmes including seminars, forums, study tours and site visits in Vietnam and Singapore.

CapitaLand also launched the Vietnamese edition of ‘Building People: Sunday Emails from a CEO’ at the event. The book is a compilation of nine years of past emails to staff, written on Sundays, by Mr Liew Mun Leong, President and CEO of CapitaLand Group. In these emails, Mr Liew shares his work ethics, observations, strategies, business ideas and lessons learnt. The publication of the book will be another platform for CapitaLand to communicate its philosophy and management thinking to local staff, business partners and the community. CapitaLand also plans to have the book available for sale in Vietnam. The proceeds will be channelled to its corporate social responsibility projects in the country.

Mr Liew Mun Leong said, "We have long recognised that Vietnam has the potential to be a major overseas market for CapitaLand. Over the years, we have built a track record of developing landmark properties like Hanoi Towers, a mixed development with offices, serviced residences and convention facilities, and Meritus Westlake Hanoi, now known as Sofitel Plaza Hanoi. We have built up a portfolio of five Somerset-branded properties in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Three new serviced residence properties, under management contracts, are being developed in Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and Danang. We are now the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in the country."

Mr Liew added, "We are also building homes in Vietnam and currently, we are developing more than 4,000 residential units. As Hanoi is celebrating its 1,000th year celebrations in 2010, we are reiterating our long term commitments to the country by embarking on a series of initiatives to support our next phase of growth in Vietnam, with particular attention to local human capital and forging new partnerships in the country."

As CapitaLand grows its business in Vietnam, the Group, through its philanthropic arm CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), is also committed to strengthen its social investment in the country. Since 2007, CHF has been supporting underprivileged children all across Vietnam. This year, CHF is pledging to support Nang Yen Primary School located in Phu Tho Province. The school, built 35 years ago, provides elementary education for over 170 school children. The Ascott Limited (Ascott) CapitaLand's wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, had earlier this year provided funds for its staff to rebuild the roofs of classrooms, upgrade the lighting system, refurbish the restrooms, build a well for water supply and install a water filtration system. CHF will contribute funds to further refurbish the school.

Mr Chen Lian Pang, CEO (Southeast Asia) of CapitaLand Commercial and CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam Holdings, said, "Recently, we identified Vietnam as our fourth pillar of growth after Singapore, China and Australia, and committed to invest a further S$299 million in the country. CapitaLand targets to grow its business in Vietnam to 10% of the Group's total assets, up from the current 1%, over the next three to five years. We are committed as a long term player in this market. We have built up a team of over 120 people while Ascott has grown its staff strength to over 500 in Vietnam. Even as we grow on the business front, we will not forget to give back to the local community. By leveraging on our expertise and domain knowledge in real estate, we hope to build better schools and a brighter future for underprivileged children."