Firms eye overseas real estate,

The global crisis became an opportunity to buy property at cheap prices, he said.

Though starting only recently, Vietnamese investments in the hotel and restaurant industries abroad is already worth US$1.03 billion, Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reports.

Last year total Vietnamese investments abroad exceeded $2.4 billion.

This included an investment of $1 billion by the Long Thanh Golf Trading and Investment Company to build a five-star hotel besides a golf course and luxury villas in the Lao capital of Vientiane.

Chung said the US rose to third in the list of countries where Vietnamese property firms invested last year with projects worth $136.1 million.

What was earlier a trickle became a rush during the economic crisis when the US real estate bubble burst.

According to FIO, in the first half of this year Vietnamese firms have invested $15.3 million in six foreign property projects.

The government was encouraging firms to invest overseas, Chung said.

The regulations for direct investment abroad by State-owned firms stipulate that projects in the banking, financial, media, and some other industries require approval from the Prime Minister if the amount involved is VND150 billion ($7.9 million).

But investment in all other sectors, including property, can be done more freely, with even projects worth VND300 billion only requiring clearance from the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Thu Duc Housing Development Joint Stock Company plans to invest in the property market in Uzbekistan. The company will use VND32.5 billion of its own funds and raise more by issuing fresh shares.

A company director said Uzbekistan has long been a target for investment only after the US because of low land prices there, clear policies on foreign investment, and a promising market for apartments.

Vietnamese living in Uzbekistan as well as locals looking for cheap apartments are the company's target, he said.

Last year, Thu Duc partnered with the US-based California Newland Ventures and Nature Coast Horries to build housing in the states of California and Mississippi. Thu Duc will invest 50 per cent of the total amount of $6 million.

"Vietnamese firms should be knowledgeable about the laws of the host countries," an executive from a company investing in the US said.