SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed CapitaLand's wholly-owned serviced residence business, The Ascott Ltd, announced on Monday that it has secured contracts to manage its first Citadines Apart'hotels in Vietnam, Sabah and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The 200-unit Citadines Regency Saigon is slated to open in Ho Chi Minh City's District 3 in 2018 while the 253-unit Citadines Waterfront Kota Kinabalu is scheduled to open in 2018. The 81-unit Citadines Culture Village Dubai will open in 2017 within Culture Village, an area poised to become the artistic and cultural hub of Dubai, said Ascott.

Said Mr Lee Chee Koon, Ascott's chief executive officer: "Citadines is one of our fastest growing brands. Since we fully acquired the Citadines Apart'hotel chain in 2004, we have more than doubled our Citadines portfolio from the initial 5,100 apartment units in 18 European cities to more than 12,000 units in 81 properties and 52 cities across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region."

He added: "We see tremendous opportunities for our international-class serviced residences to expand in Vietnam, Malaysia and the UAE."

He said that Vietnam had seen a steady growth in foreign direct investments in 2014, 70 per cent of which were from the manufacturing and processing sectors. Visitor arrivals also grew to nearly 8 million last year and Ho Chi Minh City accounted for more than 50 per cent of the arrivals, he added..

Mr Lee also said that Ascott expected strong demand for Citadines Waterfront Kota Kinabalu because it would be the first international brand of serviced residence in Sabah.

As for its UAE residence he said: "According to data from STR Global, the Middle East's hospitality market is the fastest growing in the world. The UAE and Saudi Arabia account for 70 per cent of rooms in the region's pipeline and we see great potential for further growth in this market."