HCMC PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL

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