2007 Saigon to Chu Lai on Vietnam Airlines

Bought a ticket from Vietnam Airlines for $52 this morning to head back up the coast to a place called 'Chu Lai', made famous during the Vietnam/American War as a massive Naval and Army base. Chu Lai is a a bit south of Da Nang (another exploding place) and about half way between Saigon and Hanoi. Not sure what to expect but whispers around me from the boys in the know, tell me to 'go north young man'. So north I go. It seems PetroVietnam has huge plans there and my insiders here tell me 14,000 new locals will be employed there along with 2,000 or so ex-pats. Even heard they are building a 'new city' and everything is pretty much virgin ground in more ways than one. Investments numbers total in excess of $1 Billion USD. That's a lot of money for this part of the world. Seems however that to reach this place by plane, you only got 2 options per week. One an early morning flight and one on Thursday morning, both leave at 09:20 from Saigon. An alternative is the train of course which I love , but I just did the 20 hour ride down from Da Nang and this time I think I'll fly. Before I head out however I plan on taking the Russian built hydrofoil over to a place called 'Vung Tau' or more commonly referred to in English as 'Oil City. Rumors have it there is even a casino there with real cards and chips but my primary reason to head there is see what there is to see and see what they mean by 'oil city' although I think I know. Visas here appear to be reasonably easy to obtain and I have been told from those in the know that a 6 month business visa can be obtained though a travel agency. Seems it is not a problem to renew but they would like you to leave the country every year or so as you are supposedly here on 'business". Fair enough... Keep discovering more and more cafes with WiFi connections. Seems they are just about everywhere and seem to be free if you have a cup of java or a beer. Signals are very strong and I even read yesterday that Vietnam is getting ready to double the capacity of their primary north to south fibre optic link from 20Gbps to 20Gbps and prepare for countrywide Voice over IP services. Once again, they are blowing the doors off Thailand. Made an effort to send money out of the country this morning as well as there seems to be a Western Union on every street corner but the 'gotcha' is you can only receive it, not send it. So much for my plan to send my daughter money for her birthday in the states on the 22nd..... ...more to come. Good night Vietnam! Charlie mysticsailor@gmail.com Central Vietnam EZ lure investors with top incentives

New investors in central Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (EZ) will be given preferential treatment as an incentive to invest there, the Quang Nam province government announced Wednesday.

Following a newly established policy to woo investment sources, the Chu Lai EZ said it would give the highest incentives to investors as well as to apply liberal management policies that follow international rules. Site clearance would be completely taken care of by the zone, and wast water treatment would be subsidized in an effort to facilitate startups. For projects which employ over 1,000 laborers in select sectors, Chu Lai Open EZ’s management authority will allocate areas where the infrastructure has already been developed. Investors are to be exempt from land-use fees during their lease period. The local government will assist 50 percent of training cost for investors whose projects require training. Additionally, special preferential policies on tax, finance and banking services are also on offer for projects in the zone. Chu Lai Open EZ established in 2002 - the nation’s first such zone, has seen good response to its calls for domestic and foreign investment over the past few years of operation, according to the zone’s management board. It has just licensed three local tourism projects worth over $100 million in zone, all of which got off the ground this year. The first five-star resort is to be developed by Cadasa Research and Application Information and Technology Joint Venture Co, worth some $37 million. In the second project, Mai Doan Joint Venture Company will spend $50 million to develop 50ha in the zone into a high-end resort of 220 rooms, a golf course, and a marine recreation area. The third resort of $15 million is invested by Quoc Viet Software Joint Venture Company. The zone is home to a total 58 projects with a total registered capital of $531 million, of them 21 projects are operational, and 21 others are under construction. Covering 18,000ha-site, Chu Lai EZ is designed to create an open investment and business environment compatible with international practices, said provincial authorities. In its first stage, the zone includes Ky Ha Port, Chu Lai Airport, and the Tam Hiep and North Chu Lai industrial zones and urban areas. To attract more investment into the zone, the province has poured VND500 billion (US$31 million) into upgrading infrastructure and creating favorable conditions for investors to receive investment licenses promptly. In addition, the province has stepped up investment promotion and marketing for the zone. Reported by Ho Trong – Compiled by Dong Ha Chu Lai zone attracts three tourism projects 16:30' 15/05/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – The authority of Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in the central province of Quang Nam has just given investment certificates to three local tourism projects worth over US$100 in the zone, the authority's leader said. Le Phuoc Thanh, head of the authority of Chu Lai, told the Daily on Sunday that the licenses were handed to the investors to develop five-star resorts in Chu Lai. These investors will start work on the projects this year. The first five-star resort named Cadasa resort will be developed by Cadasa Research and Application Information and Technology Join Venture Co., which will spend US$37mil on its 300 rooms resort. In the second project, Mai Doan Joint Venture Company will spend US$50mil to develop 50 hectares in the zone into a five-star resort of 220 rooms, a golf driving range, a sea entertainment area, and other facilities. In the third project, the Quang Nam branch of Quoc Viet Software Join Venture Company also got a license for the 200-room Tam Tien resort worth US$15mil. Thanh said more investors are keen on tourism projects in the zone, and most of them are interested in developing high-end services there. In this March, the authority also gave license to Le Domaine de Tam Hai Co, Ltd. to scale up its investment from US$1.3mil to US$44.4mil for its five-star resort expansion. The investor will use the extra fund to build 128 rooms and 114 villas for rent. Thanh said that the authority is planning to speed up the construction of the zone via a plan to cut down on the number of inactive projects and to call for more investors in to the zone. "Recently, I have revoked 27 licenses of in active projects there. We want investors to develop their projects quickly," he said. Until now, 130 projects capitalized at around US$1.43bil have been licensed into the zone, but more than half have been axed, and only 58 projects are still effective with total investment of US$560mil, excluding the above-mentioned new licenses. Thanh said the authority was also wooing new investors into the zone, which has been planned to become a financial, banking, trade, tourism, telecoms and service center in central Vietnam. Among potential projects in the near future are an entertainment area in Tam Hai covering 600 hectares with a planned investment of around US$2-2.5bil, and a riverside villa area on 200-300 hectares worth some US$500mil.