State-owned developer in talks with Vietnamese communist government over 拢600m investment fund

Qatari Diar is in talks with Vietnam over potential building projects. Qatar鈥檚 state-owned developer, which is investing in key UK schemes, including London鈥檚 Chelsea Barracks and the Shard at London Bridge, received a delegation from the Vietnamese government this week. The communist party officials met Qatari Diar at its flagship project, Lusail, a $5.5bn (拢3.4bn), 35km虏 city under construction north of Doha.

Ghanim Bin Saad Al Saad, chief executive of Qatari Diar, said: 鈥淰ietnam is central to Qatari Diar鈥檚 continual expansion and delivery of world beating developments.鈥

In March it was reported that the governments of Qatar and Vietnam were discussing setting up a $1bn (拢600m) fund to invest in agriculture and tourism.

Last year Davis Langdon ranked Vietnam as the world鈥檚 fourth fastest growing construction market because its spending on building projects is predicted to increase by 7.5% between 2007 and 2010. It spent 拢3.6bn on construction in 2007. Current projects in Vietnam include a $1bn (拢600m) airport on the on the tourist island of Phu Quoc off the country鈥檚 southern coast.