Japanese investors will pump in at least US$1 billion to build a 5,000 ha resort town in southern Vietnam in what will be the biggest tourism project in the country.
Leaders of Lam Dong province announced Saturday that the province had allowed four giant groups, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Limtec, to build the Romantic Town on the Dankia highland in Lac Duong district, 10 km from the hill resort of Dalat.

The town, considered a second Dalat, will be home to 30,000 villas, numerous 5-star hotels, hospitals, schools, theaters, churches, and 36-hole golf courses.

It will also have 3,000 hectares of protected forest.

The province plans to pay over $15.6 million in compensation for acquiring land and relocating more than 200 families before the second quarter of 2006.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment originally licensed three Singaporean companies in 1997 to build the resort but financial problems forced them to pull out.

Dankia is 300 km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Reported by Lam Vien – Translated by Hoang Bao