The Big Boss Behind the Abandoned 'Silicon Valley' in Da Nang

Danang IT Park is a project of Trung Nam Group, oriented to develop according to the American "Silicon Valley" model and the standards of the first international-class concentrated information technology (IT) park in Danang.

Total investment is more than 2,000 billion VND, invested by Trung Nam EMS Joint Stock Company.

Danang IT Park has a scale of 341 hectares, located in Hoa Lien commune, Hoa Vang district and is expected to become one of the best IT development communities in Asia, providing the best information technology products to the world, an ideal workplace for 25,000 people, including experts, senior engineers and workers, becoming a satellite city in the northwest of Da Nang with about 100,000 residents.

However, this project with a total investment of thousands of billions of VND is stagnant and in a state of disrepair. The villa area serving experts and the ecological park located in the Danang IT Park project are also abandoned.

Danang IT Park was deployed in 2021 and was expected to be completed in 2022, but the project is currently in a state of desolation. Photo: Ho Giap

How does Danang IT Park investor do business?

The investor of Danang IT Park project is Danang Information Technology Park Development Joint Stock Company (DITP).

DITP is known as a company related to Trung Nam Group. This is a multi-industry corporation founded by two brothers, Mr. Nguyen Tam Tien and Mr. Nguyen Tam Thinh. Currently, Mr. Nguyen Tam Thinh is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Mr. Nguyen Tam Tien is the General Director of Trung Nam Group.

In the recent bond issuance results announcement, DITP noted an email address ending with the website of Trung Nam Group.

On its website, Trung Nam Group also introduces itself as the investor of Danang IT Park.

On July 22, DITP's legal representative, Mr. Nguyen Tam Tien, announced information on the issuance of 30-month bonds worth VND500 billion, 0% interest rate, maturing on January 16, 2027.

Danang IT Park is a project of Trung Nam Group. Photo: TN

How is Trung Nam Group's health?

Trung Nam Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (Trung Nam Group) was established in 2004, focusing on fields such as energy, infrastructure - construction, real estate, electronic information industry. This is a business that started from the infrastructure construction sector, then invested in real estate and hydropower, and recently in the renewable energy sector, with a series of solar and wind power projects. Some major projects such as Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power, Ea Nam wind power, Trung Nam - Tra Vinh wind power...

Trung Nam Group has a 20-year history of operation but has developed very strongly, grown rapidly in the past 10 years and is now huge in scale, with assets worth billions of USD.

By the end of 2022, Trung Nam Group will have total assets of up to VND 96,000 billion (equivalent to about more than 3.8 billion USD, calculated at the current exchange rate), nearly 1.5 times higher than the asset size by the end of the second quarter of 2024 of FPT Group and about 1.8 times higher than Vinamilk (VNM).

Trung Nam Group's equity reached more than VND 27,900 billion (about USD 1.1 billion).

By October 2021, Trung Nam Group said it had contributed 1.63GW of energy to the national grid.

The reason why Trung Nam Group has such a rapid growth rate in scale is because in the past decade, this group has invested heavily in renewable energy, requiring a huge amount of capital to be able to carry out projects.

On its website, Trung Nam Group said that by October 2021, it had contributed 1.63GW of energy to the national grid, leading the private sector in this industry.

Statistics show that this group has 9 power projects with a total investment of tens of thousands of billions of VND, including 2 large projects: Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power (1.2 billion kWh) and Ea Nam wind power (1.1 billion kWh/year).

Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power project is implemented by Trung Nam Southern Mechanical Joint Stock Company - Trungnam SMC (established in 2013). This is a member of Trung Nam Group.

Trung Nam Group has total liabilities of more than 68,100 billion VND (equivalent to more than 2.7 billion USD). Total bond debt is about 24,270 billion VND.

The Ea Nam wind power project is considered a key project of Trung Nam Group in 2021 due to its large scale. Trungnam SMC is the unit responsible for transporting and installing 84 wind turbines using 20 main crane teams from 750-1250 tons.

Along with the capital increase, Trung Nam Group is known as a very large debt group, in which the preferred channel is bonds.

As of the end of 2022, according to a report sent to the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Trung Nam Group had a total debt of more than VND 68,100 billion (equivalent to more than USD 2.7 billion). Total bond debt was about VND 24,270 billion.

Over the past two years, the Trung Nam group has repeatedly requested extensions and delayed repayment of bonds related to renewable energy projects. The group's business results have declined.

In May this year, Mr. Nguyen Tam Thinh was proposed to be temporarily suspended from leaving the country due to not having fulfilled his tax obligations. Afterwards, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Customs Department sent a document to the Immigration Department (Ministry of Public Security) to cancel the temporary suspension of Mr. Thinh's exit.

A member unit of Trung Nam Group, Trung Nam Thuan Nam Solar Power Company Limited, once sent an urgent request to the Government due to the risk of incidents and interruptions in the operation of the Thuan Nam 500kV transmission system. At that time, this enterprise could not negotiate with EVN to increase revenue from power generation sources, while having to pay bank interest.

In 2022, Trung Nam Thuan Nam Solar Power Company Limited reported that after-tax profit decreased by 80% compared to the previous year to VND81 billion.

At the end of November 2023, Trung Nam Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (Trung Nam Group) announced information about the late payment of interest due of nearly VND 107 billion for a bond lot with a total value of VND 2,000 billion.

In 2022, Trung Nam Group recorded a sharp decrease in profit, only 255 billion VND, compared to 1,635 billion VND in 2021.

Many other member units of Trung Nam Group are also facing difficulties. Trung Nam Dak Lak 1 Wind Power Joint Stock Company (investor of the 600ha Ea Nam wind power plant project) lost 390 billion VND in the first half of 2023, after losing 858 billion VND in 2022. This enterprise is also in a state of late debt to pay bond interest. Trung Nam Solar Power, Trung Nam Tra Vinh Solar Power, Trung Nam Ninh Thuan... all recorded a decrease in profits compared to the previous year.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ong-lon-dung-sau-thung-lung-silicon-bo-hoang-tai-da-nang-2315455.html