ULI expands into Vietnam

The ULI Vietnam committee currently consists of a growing network of members including industry-leading experts, landlords, owners, developers, and urban planners. The newly formed committee has appointed Vo Sy Nhan, the co-founder of Gaw NP Capital and CEO of Empire City, as chair. Nhan will help formulate the committee’s strategic plan and grow its membership and footprint in Vietnam.

Nhan brings extensive private- and public-sector leadership experience in real estate development and investment to his new role. Prior to his venture into the private sector, he was a public servant at Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment. Nhan is also an active member of the Young Presidents' Organisation and a Harvard Business School alumni.

David Faulkner, president of ULI in Asia-Pacific commented that “We are really excited to finally establish our footprint in the country, an exciting real estate market and one of our core focuses in Asia. ULI Vietnam will bring together a variety of public and private stakeholders to find solutions and build consensus around land use and development challenges. Moving forward, we aim to provide avenues for active sectoral dialogues and facilitate the exchange of knowledge between industry experts and the wider community.”

In addition, ULI also launched the Vietnam edition of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate - Asia-Pacific 2022 report, authored in partnership with PwC. The report ranked Vietnam fifth among other Asia-Pacific markets this year in terms of urban development prospects, citing its popularity in the wake of strong foreign investment in local industrial parks.

According to the report, despite its strong potential in the commercial real estate segment, Vietnam has been adversely affected by lockdowns as large manufacturers with factories in the country have either found or are looking for alternate bases in places such as China.

Nhan said, "While Vietnam is seeing significant progress in terms of sustainability, some of the major challenges locally remain industrial investments, rising construction costs, nascent transaction markets, and solutions for affordable housing."

"Introducing ULI to Vietnam unfolds the organisation’s strong commitment to shaping the future of the built environment in the country. I look forward to working with our members to curate programmes that advance the real estate sector by providing leadership, education, and a platform which will boost awareness of global best practices in land development," he concluded.