Thai developer plans Vietnam project

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Thai developer plans Vietnam project 
Bangkok Post: 15 Sep 2009
www.BangkokPost.com

Sansiri unit plans project in Vietnam
B600m budget for overseas expansion

Red Lotus Properties, a subsidiary of listed developer Sansiri Plc, will develop a residential project in Vietnam in the first quarter next year as part of the parent company's overseas growth, said Joshua Cobb Leathers, sales and marketing director at Red Lotus.

Leathers: Indonesia, Laos also on radar

Sansiri set aside a 600-million-baht budget for overseas expansion the next two years in the Asia Pacific.

"We've been looking at Vietnam and Malaysia. But for now Vietnam is going to be our primary target as we've been studying the market for six months and it has a lot of potential for growth," Mr Leathers said.

Project details have yet to finalised, but it may be a condominium in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, he said. Also under consideration is whether it would be a joint venture or wholly-owned project.

"The property market in Vietnam has a lot of competition from local developers and some from Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea," said Mr Leathers. "But there's still room in the market for us to enter as we can compete with local developers in terms of better product quality."

Mr Leathers said it would help the company build a stronger foothold if it could find a good partner to form a joint venture as Red Lotus already has expertise in business know-how, design and property management.

The company is also interested in investing in Laos, Indonesia or Bali.

Sansiri recently bought its first international project, a 600-million-baht condominium on Elvaston Place in London's exclusive High Street Kensington area. Red Lotus also represents Sansiri to foreign buyers in upcountry markets, as they make up about 95% of its clients.

It has three projects in Hua Hin: Bussaba pool villas, Sida tropical villas and Maya townhomes. Another project launched earlier this year in Map Ta Phut is The Greenside at Laem Chabang Golf worth 190 million baht comprising 17 single-detached housing units for rent aimed at expatriates in the area.

The company's business plan is to expand to cover every resort destination, so it allocated 400 million baht to develop two projects in Thailand over the next two years.

It plans to introduce a new inland project in Hua Hin and is considering buying more land in Phuket, Khao Yai and Pattaya. "Since the beginning of this year, we have frozen our marketing activities as foreign buyers were quiet because of economic problems," Mr Leathers said.

"But now there are signs that the market is becoming active as the economy picks up, so we need to be ready for the approaching high season and for expansion next year."

Red Lotus expects sales this year to drop by 50% from last year.