VietNamNet Bridge – The information that Vietnam may have a Formula One (F1) Car Racing Course has excited many people. However, Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam warned that it is still too early to dream of such a racing course in Vietnam, and that the project remains an…idea.

Many well known sports websites in the world, including ESPN and Motorsport, report these days the news that Hans Geist, the leading expert in developing F1 racing course projects mentioned the plan to build one in Vietnam.

The Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has confirmed that the leaders of the agency had a working session with Hans Geist to discuss the project suggested by the investor.

The investor plans to set up a racing course on a 300 hectare area on the coast of Nha Trang Bay in Khanh Hoa province. The construction cost is estimated to reach $150 million. It will take about three years to build , and once the racing course becomes operational, Vietnam will be able to host a part of the annual F1 worlds’ tournament.

According to the investor, the hosting of the tournament will help to develop the economy in the central region. With 200 worldwide brands and the global media attention in the tournament, F1 will be a chance for Vietnam to promote its image in the world.

However, when talking with the press, Dang Huy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, stressed that all this is just an idea suggested by an individual.

“To date, the only thing the investor has done is meeting with relevant Vietnamese authorities to find out about the feasibility of the project. It is too early to say if such a project will really take place in Vietnam,” Dong said.

Analysts said that there was no shortage of investment ideas. A lot of ideas and projects were discussed, including the strangest ones. However, what caught the special attention from the public this time was the fact that the project related to F1 race, a popular sport.

Also according to analysts, there are hundreds of big and small racing courses around the world. However, only a limited number of racing courses are for the annual tournament. By the 2010 tournament, only eight racing courses had been chosen, including the ones in Malaysia, Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain.

Given the popularity of F1, it is understandable that a lot of countries in the world want to have racing courses. However, it is not at all an easy task to construct one. Other countries have to fiercely compete with each other to win the rights to host parts of the tournaments.

According to Philippe Tardivel, a Frenchman who works for Renault F1 team, and had worked for Renault Vietnam for two years, the opportunities for the countries like Vietnam in the world of F1 are not big.

A question has been raised of who will spend money to build the racing course? The construction of the racing course in Shanghai in China with the huge investment capital of 400 million dollar was funded by the Chinese Government.This makes the racing course in Shanghai quite different from other ones in the world.

If the governments have to spend money to build the racing course, this would be a costly undertaking and a big challenge for governments budget, including the Government of Vietnam.

If the Government does not want to spend money, Vietnam will have to rely on investors. But investors should not expect to gain much profit
The Shanghai racing course, which cost 400 million dollar, isused three days a year, Yet the Government still has to pay for its maintenance.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam