VZCZCXRO9225
PP RUEHHM
DE RUEHHM #1269 3600548
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260548Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3486
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 2383
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 3705
UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 001269
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
OBO/OM/AM/NEA FOR LARRY BLACKBURN
OBO/REPM/AQD FOR KEITH WILKIE AND KATIE TROUTMAN
EAP/EX FOR DAVID LAMONTAGNE
RM/CFO FOR JOHN COYLE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ABLD AMGT
SUBJECT: HCMC PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL
REF: (A) STATE 168622, (B) FAIRFAX/COYLE EMAIL OF 12/11/2007, (C) STATE 163873, (D) FAIRFAX/TROUTMAN EMAIL OF 11/24/2007
1. (U) Post would like to take this opportunity to thank OBO
for its response to post's Public Private Partnership (PPP)
proposal for developing the vacant parcel located at 8 Le Quy
Don, District 1, HCMC. Post management in HCMC and Mission
Vietnam leadership in Hanoi look forward to working closely with
OBO in order to further develop this proposal.
2. (U) OBO has suggested a real estate team visit Vietnam in
January 2008 in order to further develop the proposal and to
move the process forward. Post warmly welcomes the visit of an
OBO team as well as stakeholders from DS and other Washington
offices. Post would be happy to assist with scheduling any site
visits and internal/external meetings OBO deems appropriate.
3. (U) Post understands that security concerns are of highest
priority when evaluating any PPP proposal. Per ref A (para 2),
post hereby confirms that all office elements being considered
for relocation to the PPP site are entirely non-CAA. All of
these offices are already located off-compound in STL space -
all of which is non-CAA.
4. (U) Post shares OBO's concerns on gaining GVN approval for a
PPP project. Mission Vietnam leadership is prepared to fully
engage with the GVN on this issue when OBO determines that the
time is right. With OBO's concurrence, post proposes to raise
this issue informally with the GVN at the earliest opportunity
in order to gauge initial reaction. In addition to the formal
government-to-government process, post has a key asset in local
investors and developers. There are currently many large
American-led real estate and investment firms in HCMC that know
how to get things done with the GVN. These firms have years of
experience in the market and have excellent contacts with the
various agencies that would need to sign off on any PPP project.
5. (U) Post heartily endorses OBO's proposal to develop a
general list of items the USG desires (staff housing, CGR,
office space, etc) combined with a description of various PPP
concepts and then to ask for expressions of interest followed by
formal proposals. Post believes that this approach would
encourage creative proposals and provide the best overall deal
for all parties.
6. (U) Post looks forward to receiving additional feedback from
OBO as the evaluation and information gathering stage of this
project moves ahead. Please do not hesitate to contact post POC
Christopher Brown for any additional information. He can be
reached at +84 8 922 9433 x 2225 or brownc22@state.gov.
FAIRFAX