Trump Organization eyes Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, government document says
[HO CHI MINH CITY] Executives at Trump Organization, a privately owned business of US President Donald Trump, are going to visit Ho Chi Minh City to survey potential sites for a Trump Tower project, according to a Vietnamese government document seen by The Business Times.
The delegation led by executive vice-president Eric Trump – President Trump's third eldest child – will arrive on Thursday (May 22), with plans to meet the city leadership at a dinner at a central hotel in the city.
They are going to inspect sites at Thu Thiem, a peninsula that lies across the Saigon River from downtown Ho Chi Minh City. The city authority has recently earmarked vacant land parcels in this area to woo multibillion-dollar investments for the development of the country's new international financial centre.
This comes amid the ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Hanoi as the latter has sought to avoid a reciprocal tariff of 46 per cent – one of Asia's highest rates – imposed by the Trump administration and currently on hold until early July.
Trump Organization is operating or licensing its name to dozens of Trump-branded properties around the world. These projects often encompass a mix of luxury residential, commercial, and hospitality developments.
For example, The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai, announced in late April under a licensing deal with UAE-based developer Dar Global, is an 80-storey skyscraper scheduled for completion in 2031. It is planned to feature luxury residences starting at US$1 million, a five-star hotel and a private members' club called the Trump.
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US$1.5b golf complex approved
Another executive group led by Charles James Boyd Bowman, general director of the Trump Organization's Vietnam project, is set to visit Ho Chi Minh City on Monday (May 19), the internal document says.
Earlier in March, Bowman met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who urged the Trump Organization to consider Vietnam as a business base and broaden its investments into other localities, particularly in sectors aligned with Vietnam's priorities.
Last Friday, state newspaper Tuoi Tre reported that the US$1.5 billion project co-developed by Trump Organization and Vietnam's real estate developer Kinhbac City had received approval from the Vietnamese government.
The project, spanning 990 hectares of land in Hung Yen province near Hanoi, involves developments of golf courses, hotels, resorts, and a modern residential complex.
Reuters reported in March that it would break ground in May, with a second golf and hotel project expected to be announced this year. Both are planned to be operational by mid-2027.
Besides Vietnam, Trump Organization has partnered to develop golf resorts in Indonesia as its first venture into South-east Asia since 2014.
South-east Asia is home to more than 1,000 operational 18-hole golf courses, with Thailand leading the pack with 306 courses, based on data compiled by consulting firm Asia Golf Journey. Among them, Vietnam and Indonesia currently have more than 80 and 180 courses, respectively.
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