The signing ceremony of Sokimex and NovaGroup to develop the Blue Dragon project in Dong Thap. (Photo Courtesy NovaGroup) Hanoi (VNA) - NovaGroup and Cambodia’s Sokimex Investment Group have officially signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in investment and development of the Blue Dragon project, a 115ha urban area in Hong Ngu district, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap.
Blue Dragon is one of the components of the Mekong Smart City interregional planning project developed by NovaGroup, including the border gate economic zone in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, urban areas, industrial parks, export processing zones, artificial intelligence hubs, commercial centers, food centers, hospitals, schools, and amusement parks.
The project has a strategic and convenient location in commodity trade between the 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta region with the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries as well as with the Southeast region. This is the first in a series of projects in the Mekong Smart City inter-regional project. When Blue Dragon project is completed, it will create a driving force to promote the socio-economic development of the Mekong delta in the direction of industrialisation and modernisation in the border areas.
The project is planned with full modern facilities such as a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, a 1,000-seat wedding and convention centre, 9-dragon market, a district market – border market, a wholesale market, a commercial and service complex; shopping malls, food centers, a theater, an international hospital and an emergency center supported by training and operation of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, schools, training schools, the Tan Chau-Hong Ngu ferry terminal and a Truc Lam Zen Monastery.
With a beautiful landscape, Blue Dragon stretches along the Mekong River filled with silt and vitality, a place to live full of desirable amenities that have hardly been seen in any other big city.
NovaGroup is an investment and economic development group, including Novaland (NVL) with shares listed on the HCM City Stock Exchange. The group is listed in the top 30 large-cap, liquid stocks (VN30).
By September 30, 2022, Novaland has equity of 44,700 billion VND (1.6 billion USD at current exchange rate), a market capitalisation of 44,700 billion VND, and total assets of nearly 260,000 billion VND.
On the partner’s side, Sokimex Investment Group is a powerful economic group of Cambodia owned by Duke Neak Oknha Sok Kong, whose parents are Vietnamese and living in Hong Ngu, Dong Thap. Duke Neak Oknha Sok Kong always has the wish to contribute to the development of his homeland and help the poor in Dong Thap.
According to the MoU, Sokimex and NovaGroup will contribute equal capital and cooperate in implementing and completing necessary procedures in accordance with the law to conduct the auction of land use rights and the development of the Blue Dragon project.
The Blue Dragon project is expected to complete the legal process in the first quarter of 2023 for construction to start in the second quarter of 2023.
NovaGroup will advise on the development of Bokor City Urban Area with a size of 5,000 hectares in Kampot Province in Cambodia invested by Sokha Hotel Co., Ltd (a subsidiary of Sokimex Investment Group).
NovaGroup built the Mekong Smart City project which is an inter-regional project including the border gate economic zone in An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, with the expectation of turning this place into a regional tourism center, a GMS Logistic Center (GMS) of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi China), and a national agro-fisheries processing center. If the master plan is implemented, it will contribute to removing bottlenecks of the Mekong Delta region in terms of transport infrastructure connectivity, urban development, education, healthcare, and creating a new tourist destination in Mekong sub-region, a model economic urban area of the region, and a symbol connecting the friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia. It will also help create jobs for the people of the Mekong Delta, reducing poverty and migration in Vietnam’s southwest region.
NovaGroup hopes this agreement will be the start for the aspiration to come true and an era to bring the Mekong Delta to join the community of the Greater Mekong sub-region, allowing it to further expand and develop in the near future./.
