Though the Ministry of Planning and
Investment has yet to receive the Government's green light for its proposal to
enlarge the master plan for development of golf courses from 87 to 115 by 2020,
the door has not been shut on new golf courses, according to the deputy head of
a ministry think tank.
Hoang
Ngoc Phong of the Institute for Development Strategies said: "New projects
must comply with land-use rules, not encroach on rice fields or protective
forests, not be diverted for urban development, and must come up in regions
which tourism potential."
Getting
a licence to build a new golf course now depends on provincial authorities'
preparations for the project and fulfilling some basic criteria set by the
Government.
In the
past few years, provinces and cities have kept up efforts to add new projects
to the master plan. At a seminar in Ha Noi last Friday, Phong said they were
seeking to add 30 to 40 new courses.
The
Thai Nguyen Province People's Committee recently proposed licensing four new
courses instead of the two (in Yen Binh and Long Son) planned last year.
Quang
Ninh has unveiled plans for a course in Mong Cai while Khanh Hoa, Long An and
some other provinces have all sought to increase the number.
Not
surprisingly, people wonder if Viet Nam would be among the countries with the
largest number of golf courses if all these projects are added to the master
plan, though Phong has denied it. He said the number of courses in Vietnam
would not match the 256 in Thailand, 230 in Malaysia and 152 in Indonesia.
Jeff
Puchalski, CEO of golf course management and consulting firm Fore Golf Asia,
was quoted by Vietnam Investment Review as saying that if there were fewer
golfers than expected, investors would stop developing courses in the country.
The
plans to develop golf courses had attracted growing criticism from all segments
of society for encroaching on rice fields and creating social and environmental
problems.
On an
online Government forum on Mach 22, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development Cao Duc Phat admitted that agricultural lands had been lost to golf
courses and industrial parks.
According
to official figures, 29 golf courses are operational, 22 are under construction
and 13 others have received licences.
Another
23 have been approved in principle. They are in 34 provinces and cities, and
more than half belong to foreign investors.
The MPI
said golf was contributing to the country's economy. In 2010, developers of the
country's 29 courses paid an estimated 25.4 billion dong (US$1.2 million) in
tax and created 9,744 jobs.
VNA
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
Dear
Reader,
May I
invite you to visit our new blog: IIMS-Asean http://iims-asean.blogspot.com/
News
and activities of the International Institute of Medicine and Science Asean
Chapter of IIMS, Inc. California, USA - Health care, Life Science, Education,
Research, Philanthropy. Asean is the economic organisation of ten countries
located in South East Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. IIMS is a
non-profit organization.
No comments:
Post a Comment