The central business district (CBD) of Phú Mỹ Hưng City Center in District 7 is now the only location in HCM City where MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) tourism is growing strongly.

Under the original planning by the US-based planning companies Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, Phú Mỹ Hưng’s CBD with large-scale and complete functions to propel the development for the city.

A McKinsey’s report showed that before COVID-19 broke out, around 17 per cent of visitors travelling to HCMC are for business reasons, which is 14-15% higher than the rest of Southeast Asia.

For a long time, the city has been an ideal destination for international conferences and meetings.

Many foreigners coming to HCM City are for both business with vacation purposes.

To develop MICE, the city needs to upgrade infrastructure, especially hotels and exhibition centres.

The existing networks of hotels, restaurants and exhibition centres are inadequate.

Push by Phú Mỹ Hưng

With a comprehensive infrastructure that meets international standards, CBD in the Phú Mỹ Hưng is the only place in HCM City for MICE’s future progression. After a decade of development, it now has the facilities to welcome thousands of guests at a time.

On the other hand, the most important aspect, and the one that makes it become an ideal MICE destination in the city, is the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), which is the only place in the entire city that can host large exhibitions.

SECC is considered as a competitive feature of the Phú Mỹ Hưng’s CBD. There is not any place in the heart of HCM City having enough space for building a large exhibition centre.

In fact, the SECC is the only exhibition centre in the whole Southeast Asia that meets international standards in terms of technology, construction and space.

To meet the demands of MICE, the second phase of SECC is under construction and will be ready by the end of this year to become a luxury exhibition, conference, hotel, and wedding space complex.

When it is complete, SECC will have an area of 18,000sq.m, enough to set up 1,000 booths.

Moreover, the professional planning in Phú Mỹ Hưng has made it an ideal place for MICE.

From the beginning, Phú Mỹ Hưng, including the CBD, has been aimed to share the burden of downtown HCMC when the demand for MICE tourism kept growing.

After 28 years of relentless development, the area has had every famous brand in finance, banking, insurance, shopping, entertainment, electronics, and luxury products.

Cobi Tower and the second Lawrence S. Ting School are being constructed here now.

More development underway

The Phú Mỹ Hưng’s CBD currently has 50 buildings including offices, trade centres, international hospitals, and cultural centres that fully meet the growing demand of local residents.

Phú Mỹ Hưng’s CBD comprises three distinct areas: The Crescent, The International Commercial and Financial and Medical campus. Among them, The International Commercial and Financial District is a key place. As a self-contained district, it can promote independence and sustainable development. Specifically, 85 per cent of the land fund in the district is earmarked for commercial and service facilities. Meanwhile, around 15 per cent of its land has been earmarked for housing.

In the middle of March, a new project, Cardinal Court, was unveiled. With Cardinal Court, Phú Mỹ Hưng Development Corporation seeks to complete the CBD’s development as a high-end place for people to live - work - and experience.

Cardinal Court is the second housing project in The International Commercial and Financial District. The first one, which is Start Hill, was developed 10 years ago.

It is the first project in Phu My Hung to receive the International Finance Corporation’s EDGE certificate for sustainability.

The EDGE is a green building certification system focused on making new residential and commercial buildings more resource-efficient.

The sale date will be in the second quarter of this year.