Vung Tau sailboat project to be suspended

The local Department of Planning and Investment has proposed the government revoke an investment license for an Australia-invested project to produce sailboats in Vung Tau tourism city.

The information is provided by Nguyen Phuoc Le, diredtor of the department.

The reasons cited are that the investor – Corsair Marine Park – is not financially capable enough and had difficulties in site clearance and compensation in carrying out the US$20 million project.

Earlier, Corsair Marine International had reportedly pulled the plug on plans for the trimaran manufacturing project on 27 hectares in Long Son commune, Vung Tau city.

The company had officially given up on the project in Vung Tau city, said Huynh Xuan Vinh, head of international cooperation and investment for the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Department of Planning and Investment.

“Late last year, Corsair’s leaders complained they could not afford the cost of site clearance and had decided to withdraw from the project,” Vinh was quoted as saying by VietnamNet.

The project was granted an investment certificate in July, 2007. But by the end of 2010, the firm waited for a land grant so it could start building the production facility.

While Corsair Marine International blamed the high costs of site clearance for its decision to pull out of the project, the firm did not name the figure in question.

It said that site clearance costs have risen sharply since Decree 69/2009/ND-CP took effect.

The decree, which came into force on October 1, 2009, means that compensation costs for agricultural land could be 1.5-5 times higher than before.

But Vinh said that Corsair Marine International’s failure to provide an exact figure for the costs of land clearance was evidence it was actually ending the project because of the impact of the global financial crisis.

Established since 1984, Corsair Marine International has sold more than 1,600 trimarans through its global dealership network. Dealers represent and service Corsair Marine’s trimarans in over eight regions of the United States and 17 other locations around the world. – Tuoitre

Tags: Vung Tau sailboat project