Vietnam to host a Formula One race in 2020

In an effort to boost tourism in the country, Vietnam plans to host a Formula One race in 2020 in Hanoi. The race will be 5.565-kilometer street circuit and the event is expected to be in April 2020. It was announced by Vingroup JSC, who signed a multi-year deal to host the Grand Prix.

With the event, Vietnam government envisions to woo more foreign tourists to the country to reduce its dependency on export to strengthen the economy. It is expected that the number of tourists to increase by 30 per cent by the end of 2018, counting around 16 million tourists. The projected GDP for the current year is 8 per cent and it is expect to reach 10 per cent by 2020.

In order to host the event, Vingroup is forming a new unit, Vietnam Grand Prix Co., with registered capital of 1 trillion dong (USD 42.9 million). The unit will function as a subsidiary of Vingroup’s auto manufacturing group, VinFast.

“Vingroup wants to bring this race to Vietnam because of the general benefits to the society such as increased job opportunities, upgraded  infrastructure of Hanoi, and encouragement to host other bigger worldwide events in Vietnam,”said Nguyen Viet Quang,  Vingroup Chief Executive and Vice Chairman in a statement to the media.

The city plans the race to be near its convention center. The government expects funding for the event, estimated to cost as much as USD 200 million to be raised from the private sector companies.

The race will provide an opportunity for inward investment to Vietnam,” said Nguyen Duc Chung , People’s Committee Chairman said in the statement.

The government also envisages other programmes to rev up the tourism sector like, allowing online visa applications and waiver of visas entirely for some countries. The government created a tourism development fund to assist travel companies with marketing and staff training while investing in roads, bridges and airport expansions.