vietnam Tan Vien, Back From the Dead

A year after government officials put it on the chopping block, a planned “international tourism area” along Suoi Hai Lake is still alive, minus one of its two golf courses.

The Tan Vien resort, which will occupy more than 4,000 acres in the Ba Vi district of western Hanoi, had been approved in 2007 but was canceled last year, as part of a crackdown on construction that wipes out rice fields and other vital agricultural property. Later in 2009, however, the Hanoi People’s Committee took a second look at the project, shrunk it a bit, and reinstated it.

More importantly, Tan Vien’s developer, PetroVietnam Premier Recreation JSC, recently announced that it remains committed to the project, though it didn’t say when construction might begin. The company believes that the resort could attract as many as 650,000 visitors a year.

PetroVietnam Premier Recreation, an affiliate of the state-owned Vietnam National Oil & Gas Group, says it was established (in 2006) to “speed up the modernization of Vietnam.” At Tan Vien, the modernization will take the form of villas and other housing types, hotels, meeting space, an eco-tourism area, water- and land-based sports centers, and one 18-hole golf course.

PetroVietnam Premier Recreation plans to build the golf course in the first phase of the project, which will take shape along the man-made lake, 40 miles west of the city.