HÀ NỘI — The real estate sector in the central province of Quảng Ngãi has strong potential to grow, thanks to its geographic attributes but still-low property prices that appeal to investors.

Quảng Ngãi Province is strategically located in the central region and along the East-West economic corridor. It has convenient transport infrastructure and easy links with neighbouring economic zones and neighbouring countries by road, air and waterway systems. Because of this, its industrial, tourism and marine economic sectors are expected to boom in the next few years.

At present, the Dung Quất–Quảng Ngãi deep-water port can receive ships of up to 100,000 tonnes, making it an important gateway for importing and exporting goods. In terms of industry, Quảng Ngãi’s Dung Quất economic zone has an area of over 45,000ha. It is one of the five coastal economic zones that have been prioritised by the Government to receive investment in infrastructure and offer the strongest incentive schemes in Việt Nam today.

By the end of the second quarter of 2018, Quảng Ngãi’s regional domestic product (GRDP) was estimated to rise 9.23 per cent over the same period last year. The industrial sector increased by 16.15 per cent and service sector grew by 7.14 per cent.

In terms of tourism, total visitors to Quảng Ngãi in 2017 reached 810,000, including 69,000 international visitors, equal to 108 per cent of the year’s target and representing a year-on-year increase of 12 per cent. Total tourism revenue reached VNĐ710 billion (US$30.4 million), up 10 per cent from 2016.

In recent years, the province has made efforts to build a friendly investment environment with a series of policies and credits to support various forms of investment. As a result, the amount of investment capital in Quảng Ngãi in 2018 has reached impressive numbers. In the first and second quarter of 2018, the total new investment capital to the central province reached over VNĐ16.99 trillion ($728 million), accounting for 62.9 per cent of the year’s plan, up 89.86 per cent over the same period in 2017.

By May 2018, the province had 48 foreign direct investment (FDI) and 485 locally-invested projects with total registered capital of more than $1.45 billion and nearly VNĐ227.92 trillion (about $9.77 billion), respectively.  

With this potential and promising signs, Quảng Ngãi is set for spectacular growth in the near future.

Big jump for Quảng Ngãi tourism

According Quảng Ngãi City’s plans for 2016 to 2020, economic development will proceed in two basic directions: the urban economy and the marine economy. The exploitation of marine and island areas will become one of the city’s key economic sectors.

That orientation focuses on the province’s 130km-long coastline, with beautiful beaches such as Bình Châu, Mỹ Khê and Sa Huỳnh, as well as Lý Sơn Island. The province also possesses many unique cultural heritages and unique marine geographical features, which are a great foundation for the development of the city’s marine tourism economy.

To become a dynamic and friendly tourist city, Quảng Ngãi has concentrated its investment resources in urban planning. It intends to expand the city towards the sea, upgrade the transport infrastructure system. Some key strategic projects have been implemented, such as the dam upstream of Trà Khúc River, the Cửa Đại Bridge linking the central coastal provinces, the Đà Nẵng–Quảng Ngãi Highway and the Hoàng Sa and Trường Sa routes along the banks of Trà River.

A number of key projects for tourism are also in the works, such as the Vạn Tường Ecotourism Area, Emerald Island project, Ánh Vân Ecological Resort project in Mỹ Khê beach area and the 150ha Central Park project in Tịnh Khê Commune.

Real estate investment trends in Quảng Ngãi

Quảng Ngãi’s investments have created momentum for the real estate market in the province with series of new projects mainly on the two sides of the Trà Khúc River. An area of 252ha along the river has been the focus of detailed planning by the provincial People’s Committee.

Most of the land plots in this area have been handed over to investors for exploitation in accordance with the city’s plans.

Trần Xuân Thông, general director of Đất Xanh Đà Nẵng, said the real estate market in Quảng Ngãi is still in the early stages of development and is far from its full potential, so real estate prices are much lower than in the neighbouring cities of the central region.

“In the near future, the development of transport infrastructure and a series of new projects, including the launch of Quảng Ngãi–Đà Nẵng Highway at the end of July 2018, will be the driving forces for Quảng Ngãi to become a major economic and tourist province of central Việt Nam. This is also the lever for the breakthrough of the real estate market in Quảng Ngãi,” Thông told the cafef.vn.

In terms of obstacles facing the provincial real estate sector, Nguyễn Phong, director of Quảng Ngãi Province’s Construction Department, said the most difficult step is compensation and the land clearance process. As the local people ask for land compensation equivalent to the market prices, investors must reach agreements with residents before they can start the projects.

“Quảng Ngãi Province has been providing favourable policies to attract investors in order to develop the property sector as well as enhance urban development overall. The province is ready to support investors in planning and administrative procedures to boost the real estate segment in the upcoming time,” Phong told Việt Nam News. — VNS