“Captain” of Gamuda Land Vietnam: Always upholding core values
Gamuda Land Vietnam is making strategic adjustments to seize opportunities and achieve new developments.
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| After 16 years of living and working in Vietnam, Malaysian businessman Angus Liew Bing Fooi has achieved an important and prestigious position in the business and real estate investment community. As Chairman of the Board of Directors and legal representative of Gamuda Land Vietnam Joint Stock Company, he plays a key role in shaping the strategy and development of this billion-dollar enterprise in the Vietnamese market. |
Mr. Angus Liew Bing Fooi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gamuda Land Vietnam, shared that , steadfast in its goal of being a leading urban developer, Gamuda Land always upholds its core values: sincerity, responsibility, and pioneering.
Having been in Vietnam for more than 16 years and witnessed Vietnam's urban development in recent times, what impresses you most?
I appreciate the Vietnamese Government's attention to infrastructure development in recent years, as infrastructure development has been one of the main drivers of economic growth over the past decade. Vietnam is prioritizing investment in transport infrastructure, especially the road system, airports, and seaports.
Focusing on infrastructure development not only meets the requirements of investment projects, but also promotes economic growth and creates more jobs. Moreover, the rapid urbanization in Vietnam is a strong driving force for the development of transportation and utilities.
In particular, the first urban railway line in Hanoi opened in 2021 and the first metro line in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to be put into operation in 2024. These are bright spots in the urbanization process, contributing to creating favorable conditions for socio-economic development, promoting economic and labor restructuring towards industrialization and modernization that Vietnam is aiming for.
On a more personal level, what made you choose Vietnam to live and work?
After completing my civil engineering studies in Australia in 2000, I returned to Malaysia where I gained valuable professional experience in the property development and construction industry.
In 2008, I was sent to work in Vietnam by the Company. At that time, Vietnam was an attractive destination in the region, because it offered many opportunities for investors and was not heavily affected by the economic recession of 2007-2008.
After living here for a while, I love Vietnam and want to continue working in Vietnam for a longer time. Vietnam has a unique culture, is easy to approach, the people are friendly and eager to learn. These are the reasons why I want to connect more with this country. I also learned Vietnamese to be able to understand and easily communicate with friends, colleagues, employees and feel very happy about that.
Living and working in Vietnam for over 16 years, I have considered Vietnam as my second home.
How have the years living and working in Vietnam changed you?
I think the way I run my business is the same as the way I live my life! As a “Gamudian” (a member of Gamuda - PV), I always adhere to the core values: sincerity, responsibility and pioneering.
After more than 16 years living in Vietnam, I have learned more about the land, culture and people here. This has also helped me a lot in managing Gamuda Land in Vietnam. We are still striving to fulfill our commitments to sustainable development, environmental care, corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities... to bring the best benefits to the lives of Vietnamese people.
Can you share about Gamuda Land's business activities in Vietnam over the past years?
The general economy and real estate market will have significant changes in 2023. Facing both challenges and opportunities of the economy, Gamuda Land still maintains stable business operations and achieves new milestones.
We have completed 3 project merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the past 3 years. Since 2020, we have shifted our strategy from urban development to projects with fast capital turnover and continued to expand our land fund.
With this strategic business plan, in the past 2-3 years, Gamuda has mobilized capital to meet future needs, as well as formed a strong enough human resource team to actively seek new projects and sign more deals. When opportunities come, we need to seize them to achieve our business goals.
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Why did Gamuda Land switch from developing large urban areas to developing projects with quick capital turnover?
Basically, we proactively build a fast capital turnover strategy to supplement the business model, in addition to the existing new urban development model, to increase the profit margin on the total capital used by the enterprise.
Gamuda’s fast capital turnover strategy aims to create a “chain” of projects. When one project ends, another project starts and the capital/income of the previous project continues to be reinvested in the next project. This chain brings stable growth to Gamuda Land.
Regarding this strategy, I would like to emphasize two aspects.
Firstly, our strategy is to diversify our product portfolio to realize Gamuda Land's strong capabilities and innovative comprehensive planning approach through M&A strategy, developing projects with quick capital turnover, such as high-rise complexes, commercial townhouses, etc.
Second, we strike an optimal balance between Gamuda Land’s large-scale township developments and mid-sized, fast-turnaround projects. We are pursuing this strategy while remaining steadfast in our goal of being a leading township developer. Although large township developments require higher initial capital outlays and longer payback periods, we are balancing this strategy with smaller-scale developments that we believe can recover capital within five years of development commencement. After five years, we will be able to reinvest the capital generated from fast-turnaround projects into other new projects.
In the next 10 years, what will Gamuda Land's development strategy in Vietnam focus on, sir?
Expanding land fund is our top priority at the moment. Having a large enough “clean” land fund with sufficient legal procedures is the biggest challenge in developing integrated urban projects in Vietnam today. Especially in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, land fund is increasingly scarce. Finding a large piece of land like Gamuda City with 274 hectares in Hanoi or Celadon City with 82 hectares in Ho Chi Minh City is almost impossible at the present stage. However, we remain committed to our sustainable development strategy in Vietnam.
As mentioned above, we are very interested in diversifying our product portfolio in Vietnam. Continuing to expand our scale in Vietnam is an important strategic step for us to achieve our revenue target and diversify our product portfolio to introduce 10 to 15 new projects to the market in the next 5-10 years.
Notably, Gamuda Land is one of the first developers in Vietnam to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into its projects. We are proud of the green bio-gardens in our projects that keep the entire project inside and outside covered with green trees. Our carefully considered master plan for project development also brings together all key elements in harmony, covering all areas, from architecture, to appropriate facilities and amenities, parks and landscapes in the projects.
In the procurement of construction materials, we apply various ISO standards and implement recycling processes for materials, components and household waste. Gamuda Land also applies green standards such as LOTUS and LEED to its projects in Vietnam.
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