Singapore’s Keppel and Vietnam’s tycoons: Inside Saigon Marina IFC Tower

[HO CHI MINH CITY] Overlooking the Saigon River in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, a shimmering new landmark was unveiled on Tuesday (Aug 19) – the Saigon Marina International Financial Centre (IFC) Tower – billed as the first anchor project in the country’s highly anticipated IFC zone.

Rising among the city’s three tallest skyscrapers, the tower has, at various stages, been linked to prominent local billionaires, including Truong My Lan, now jailed for masterminding the world’s largest bank fraud, and Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, the VietJet Air billionaire founder currently tied to the project.

After a series of ownership changes, the firm behind the tower is now majority owned by Vietnam’s low-key “mysterious businesswoman” Le Thi Huyen Linh.