Quang Ninh chooses Arcadis & Callison RTKL to plan for Van Don SEZ

By Vu Minh - Dec 19, 2017 | 11:15 AM GMT+7

TheLEADERArcadis & Callison RTKL, a Hong Kong corporation, has been selected as Quang Ninh’s planning consultant for the Van Don Special Administrative Economic Zone (SEZ).

Quang Ninh chooses Arcadis & Callison RTKL to plan for Van Don SEZ
The perspective of the casino complex in Van Don, Quang Ninh.

According to the report of the Management Board of Van Don SEZ, the process of planning for the project has been basically completed, including the decision to choose Hong Kong’s Arcadis & Callison RTKL as the planning consultant.

Quang Ninh province requires the consultancy unit to work together in order to produce the best products which are high-quality, long-term and comprehensive plannings in order to develop Van Don into a SEZ.

These plans will be implemented simultaneously with Quang Ninh province’s socio-economic master plan established by foreign consultancy units. Therefore, in the planning process for Van Don, Arcadis & Callison RTKL must ensure that the planning is highly compatible with the general planning of the province while ensuring the requirements of SEZs. The plan must be completed on April 16, 2018, as promised.

Quang Ninh province will set up a working group to support Arcadis & Callison RTKL to appraise the practical situation of Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, and the region. The product will be submitted in stages to ensure the best quality and schedule.

The plannings to develop Van Don SEZ are funded by Sun Group, a strategic investor of Quang Ninh province. However, Quang Ninh province’s authorities require that the plannings should create a good foundation that offers opportunities for other investors to share and develop.

Van Don will be developed to a new administrative-economic zone which is suitable for the reality in order to develop sustainably and comprehensively.

Van Don is adjacent to large markets not only in Ha Noi, Hai Phong, and Ha Long but also in the ASEAN region and some other Asian countries.

Within a 4 to 5-hour flight radius, Van Don gains access to the market of 3.5 billion people, 17 per cent of which are from ASEAN countries which are equivalent to US$22 billion of GDP.

At the same time, Van Don reaches a market of 23 million people, 23 per cent of which come from China and 77 per cent are from Vietnam, which are equivalent to US$62 billion of GDP.

In 2009, the Prime Minister approved the construction of Van Don SEZ, focusing on the development of high-quality island tourism; however, it could not attract large investors in a long period of time.

Recently, with the focusing investment infrastructure, Van Don has become an attractive investment destination drawing billion dollar projects which are mainly concentrated in the field of tourism and entertainment.

Quang Ninh province is also calling for investments worth billions of dollars in three infrastructure projects for Van Don in the 2017-2020 period to create a synchronous and modern infrastructure system for the future SEZ. The three projects include the 700ha Bac Cai Bau port and urban area project worth VND25,200 billion (roughly US$1.11 billion), the 250-500ha project on non-tariff zone and clean industrial park in Van Don SEZ worth VND27,300-31,500 billion (roughly US$1.2-1.4 billion) and the 91km Van Don - Mong Cai expressway worth VND16,014 billion (roughly US$0.7 billion).