BW announces landmark transaction, marking its first entry into Long An province

Following this, Lance Li, CEO of BW, expects 2022 to be an exciting year for both the industrial and logistics real estate markets.

“Logistics efficiency has become a strategic and fundamental value proposition for e-commerce giants and express companies. For them to work, good warehousing locations and strong infrastructure are vital,” said Li.

“For manufacturing, Vietnam remains an important destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), as evidenced by the $31 billion committed in 2021, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Many of our clients are waiting for their visa application to be processed to make key decisions for their businesses,” added Li.

Vinh Loc 2 Industrial Park is situated along National Route 1A and the Ho Chi Minh-Trung Luong Expressway, which is a landmark location granting access to central Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, surrounded by the neighbouring Thuan Dao and Phuoc Long industrial clusters, the site is excellent for city distribution.

Vinh Loc 2, which comprises a 213,000 square metre double-story logistics facility, is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2023.

Ideally situated 30 minutes from the Tan Son Nhat airport and 90 minutes from the Cat Lai Port, the site will create synergies and value across BW’s platform, amid the increasingly limited land supply in Tan Phu Trung. The project, which will include a 220,000sq.m logistics facility, is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Given the high purchasing power in Ho Chi Minh City, Long An is an attractive location, especially for agricultural, seafood, retail, and e-commerce companies looking to serve the local market.

“With Vinh Loc 2 and Xuyen A Industrial Park, we look forward to diversifying our segments by targeting budget-conscious tenants while expanding our reach southwest of greater Ho Chi Minh City, ” Li added.

Well-established as the largest developer of for-rent industrial and logistics properties in Vietnam, BW maintains its market leadership position by pursuing growth through disciplined acquisition of high-quality assets, well-situated land parcels, and organic development. In addition, the company diversifies its products in each market to capture both high and low-budget tenants.

According to Nguyen Thanh Thanh, head of the Long An Economic Zone Authority, a healthy influx of FDI was recorded in Long An, with a total registered investment capital of $3.84 billion, accounting for 12.3 per cent of the total FDI attraction.

“Long An’s key advantages include its low labour costs, large scale international seaports, and proximity to Ho Chi Minh City. With the resumption of cross-border travel and infrastructure development, the province can expect more global and domestic investors to expand their businesses in the country’s second most popular investment destination,” said Thanh.

In 2022, the province is determined to implement a 1-day issuance of investment registration certificates for large scale projects with low environmental impacts.

“We also believe BW’s ready-built facilities will be well-received by the market as they enable manufacturers and warehouse operators alike to operate efficiently while providing capacity for expansion without the need to rack up massive investments in fixed assets,” Thanh added.

BW was established in 2018 and is a joint venture between Warburg Pincus and Becamex IDC.

BW has focused on developing modern warehouses to capture the growth driven by the transformative shift of manufacturing bases to Vietnam, rising domestic consumption, and rapid growth of e-commerce.

BW has secured equity commitments in excess of $800 million from shareholders and formed strategic partnerships with e-commerce and logistics players to serve one of the fastest-growing markets in Asia.

Currently, BW is Vietnam's largest and fastest-growing logistics and industrial for-rent platform, with over 7.76 million square metres of prime industrial land under control across more than 35 projects in 26 strategic economic locations throughout Vietnam.