At the Meet-the-Experts (MTE) conference, Mr Joseph Low, President, Real Estate (Vietnam), Keppel Ltd. shared Keppel's efforts in placemaking and its endeavours to seize opportunities, aiming to solidify its position as one of the leading foreign real estate companies in Vietnam.
Pioneering in placemaking in Vietnam
Over the span of three decades, Keppel has established a significant presence in Vietnam, leaving a lasting impact through a myriad of accomplishments in housing, commercial, and serviced apartment developments. These endeavors have not only contributed to the country's urbanization but also fostered its sustainable development.
With Keppel, investment transcends mere construction, it revolves around transforming projects into vibrant spaces that enrich the community across all facets of life. Placemaking is creating places that people love and connect with, which fosters a sense of belonging, strengthens community ties, and enhances the overall quality of life.
At Keppel’s real estate division, its tenants and homebuyers are a critical aspect of the Company’s placemaking efforts.
“We strive to show that we are not just a landlord but also add value by creating a joyful workplace culture. Through this, we hope to encourage and foster stronger collaboration among tenants and increase connectivity among our homebuyers”, Mr Joseph Low shared with over 700 participants at the conference.
Keppel is one of the pioneers in placemaking in Vietnam. The Company brings developments with designs that focus on seamless customer experience, well-being and connectivity.
Mr Joseph Low (middle), President, Real Estate (Vietnam), Keppel Ltd. at the panel discussion.
An example of Keppel’s placemaking effort is the Japan Festival and Korea Festival, which are held annually at Saigon Centre and Estella Place, respectively, Keppel’s flagship commercial developments in Vietnam.
With the support from the related foreign embassies and partners, through such festivals, Keppel forges stronger and more meaningful relations with its mall tenants and shoppers and transforms public spaces into focal points that bring people together.
Placemaking is also part of Keppel’s Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) initiative where the Company aims to implement efficient shared spaces that achieve environmental goals, as well as cultivate social and wellness benefits.
Opportunities to grow stronger in Vietnam
With the new laws slated to come into effect in 2025, they are poised to significantly impact various facets of Keppel's investment strategies. The executive emphasized that the changes will increase competition, businesses must have very strong financial resources as well as high technical capacity and rich experience, especially "real" capacity through projects they have completed in the past.
“We believe that with our quality portfolio of notable developments over the last 3 decades in Vietnam, as well as our extensive expertise in crafting resilient urban solutions for the future, we remain confident in our ability to pivot challenges into opportunities and harness the shifts prompted by the new Law, solidifying our stance as one of Vietnam's leading foreign real estate enterprises. Looking ahead, we still pick Vietnam as one of our top countries to invest in.”, Mr Joseph Low said.
Mr Joseph Low, President, Real Estate (Vietnam), Keppel Ltd. and other panelists of the CEO panel at the conference.
As a global asset manager and operator, Keppel is well-positioned to capture growth opportunities in Vietnam. The Company can bring in investors to fund the creation of projects through its quality investment platforms and asset portfolios, not just in the area of real estate, but also in the areas of infrastructure and connectivity.
One example is the sustainable district in Thu Duc City Keppel is currently working with Khang Dien, a leading local real estate company. The project is expected to provide its residents with high-end quality living when completed.
Keppel is also driving a SUR initiative, bringing people, AI-driven technology and processes together to bolster the efficiency, sustainability performance and valuation of both new and aged commercial buildings.
In the infrastructure space, in 2023, Keppel secured US$70 mil of Energy-as-a-Service contracts– further demonstrating market adoption of its solutions in Vietnam. The subscription-based Energy-as-a-Service solution of Keppel in Vietnam includes energy supply, cooling, decarbonisation and smart energy management.
Beyond real estate and infrastructure solutions, Keppel is also uniquely positioned to provide integrated solutions for data centres from clean energy to asset development, operations and management to support customers’ net zero ambitions. Its data centre portfolio has a strong international presence with over 30 data centres across Asia-Pacific & Europe.
“As demand for data storage increases in Vietnam, we see opportunities to offer its in Vietnam, we see opportunities to offer its integrated data centre solutions to support Vietnam’s fast-growing digital economy”, said the President of Keppel’s Real Estate Division in Vietnam.
MTE conference has a lineup of over 40 international and local speakers, and has attracted more than 700 participants, including developers, hotel owners and leading consultants. Over the past five years, MTE has been held in major cities including HCMC, Hanoi, Bangkok and Phnom Penh, serving as a vital platform for industry professionals to exchange knowledge and expertise.