More golf in new Vietnam plan?

6 July 2011

More courses may be added to the Vietnamese government’s national masterplan for golf development, which was approved back in 2009.

The plan, administered by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, calls for 90 courses by the year 2020. But MPI has identified 27 projects across the country not included in the original plan.

The Ministry also has concerns about the funding behind some golf course projects. Many of the projects that have obtained licences have delayed construction in search of more financing. Four of the five projects approved in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) have not been started. Nguyen Van Hong, deputy director of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment, told Vietnam News: “If the investor cannot guarantee progress of the projects as outlined in their licences, then the licences will be revoked.”

A spokesman for the planning ministry said his organisation favoured the creation of a new plan, which would increase the total number of courses permitted by 2020 to 118.