Singaporean developer opens first office tower in Vietnam

Mapletree Business Center is a 17-storey tower with 28,384sq.m of floor area and designed to international grade A specifications. 

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (second, left) and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung at the inauguration event 

It has attracted plenty of leasing interest and its tenants include Standard Chartered Bank, Uniben, Far Eastern Polytex and SCC UK. 

The completion of the office tower marks the second phase of precinct transformation at the 4.4ha Saigon South Place Complex in District 7. 

Saigon South Place Complex, a mixed-use project, is being developed in phases by Mapletree, with the first phase being a joint venture with Saigon Co.op to develop SC VivoCity shopping mall in 2015. 

An Oakwood-branded serviced apartment and a high-rise residential block RichLane Residences are on track for completion by the end of this year. 

There are also plans for two more office towers. 

Edmund Cheng, Chairman of Mapletree, said, “Tapping on our rich experience in rejuvenating the HarbourFront and Alexandra precincts in Singapore, we aim to create a work-live-play environment by combining lifestyle, office and residential at Saigon South Place Complex.” 

The company entered Vietnam more than 12 years ago and has grown from one logistics project into one of the largest Singaporean real estate companies in the country by investment. 

After unveiling the plaque of Mapletree Business Centre, Lee and Dung toured Co.opXtra, a hypermarket set up by Saigon Co.op and Singapore’s NTUC FairPrice at SC VivoCity.

Source: VNA