VietNamNet Bridge - A recent report by Cushman & Wakefield says that Vietnam’s largest island of Phu Quoc (Kien Giang province) and the central city of Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa province) will be the top choices of foreign investors, as they are expected to be tourist paradises of Vietnam in the near future.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Kien Giang, the province now has 243 tourism projects, including up to 189 projects in Phu Quoc, with a total area of 6,804 hectares.

In 2014, two big projects in Phu Quoc were put into operation, the 5-star Vinpearl Phu Quoc Resort & Spa and Salinda Premium Resort & Spa.

Many other projects have also kicked off there, including 5-star hotel Crowne Plaza Phu Quoc of BIM Group, 4-star hotel Novotel Phu Quoc Resort of CEO Group and Sunset Sanato Premium of Chin Chin Nui Company. All these projects are located in Bai Truong and scheduled for completion in 2015-2016.

Most recently, MIK has introduced its Sol House – a premium resort project - in Phu Quoc Island, which is expected to open in early 2016.

Bernardo Cabot, Vice President of MHI Asia - Pacific, said Phu Quoc is an excellent investment destination, with convenient transportation as the international modern airport has opened and the growth of tourists of over 50% a year.

Kien Giang authorities have assigned Becamex IDC to study and conduct construction planning for the whole area, from Dong Cay Sao to the Scientific Urban Zone, with total area of about 4,000 hectares in Phu Quoc Island, to develop residential areas, urban areas, clean industry, tourism, trade and a reservoir. Becamex was also assigned to plan for a casino on the island.

Under the plan on Phu Quoc Special Administrative - Economic Zone, the island will be a center of resorts, finance, commerce and technology of the country, the region and the world. However, in the opinion of researchers, once Phu Quoc will become a "multi-purpose center", it needs special policies and a specific roadmap of development.

According to a report from CBRE Vietnam, besides the current system of small and medium hotels, the island has not been developed on a large scale and it is unlike any model that it targets. Visitors cannot find any entertainment activities here.

"Only a few projects started recently, while the remaining ones, the majority of which are foreign invested projects, are still only on paper. Perhaps the investors registered to keep land first and depend on the real situation to implement the projects later," said an investor in Phu Quoc who wanted to remain anonymous.

According to CBRE, domestic and foreign investors are concerned about the infrastructure there. Even if the Government reduces taxes and removes barriers to stimulate investment, the lack of basic infrastructure such as paved roads is a major obstacle.

"Suppose that all current plans are implemented and Phu Quoc is permitted to host an international race-track as a foreign investor has proposed, what will happen if the main roads are just the red-soil roads," said Ms. Duong Thuy Dung, Director of CBRE Research Unit.

In addition, lessons from Cambodia show that the launch of an international airport is not enough to draw foreign tourists. The airport in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, after six years of operation, has only one domestic route.

As reported by the CAPA Aviation Center, transport capacity of Phu Quoc international airport is about 60% higher than the old one. To date, Phu Quoc has only a direct route to Singapore. The demand is not large enough to attract international airlines from Europe, Russia, South Korea and other ASEAN countries to open international routes to Phu Quoc.

"Last but not least, the constant change in the policy of the local government and the problems of site clearance are challenging the patience of foreign investors," Dung said.

Tri Thuc Tre