The building has five floors.
The concrete framework has been completed on each, but little else has been done and progress remains stalled.
Construction has actually been officially suspended due to a disagreement between the project manager and the contractor.
Previously, the project was managed by Construction Management Board of the Planning Exhibition Center at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning.
After the project dragged on for years, it was transferred to the city’s Management Board of Industrial and Civil Engineering Construction and Investment Projects, which operates under the city’s local government at the People's Committee, last February.
The committee recently requested that related agencies “completely solve all problems, and urgently complete needed documents and procedures to resume the project in early July.”
Accounting for a total land area of 18,000 sq.m and costing VND800 billion (US$33.8 million) in public funds from the state budget, the center is supposed to be a venue for showcasing exhibits about Ho Chi Minh City’s architecture and urban planning initiatives. It is also supposed to be a forum at which experts, investors and tourists can all exchange ideas and information.
The center’s location at the Thu Thiem Central Square was intended to make it a “symbol of the area,” according to the project’s initial design plans.
Inside the half-finished building, there are now only security guards.
Workers at nearby construction sites even use the site as shelter from sun and storms.
