Lawrence Tham

Graduated with MBA from Henley Business School, University of Reading-UK, Mr. Lawrence Tham started his career in 1972 working for a shipping giant Stolt Nielsen Inc and working up to the position of Chartering Manager in Singapore, marketing the company’s ships in South East Asia.

In 1980 Mr. Tham branched out, and together with his partners founded Eastport Maritime Pte Ltd, which has grown to become one of the largest and most successful shipbroking companies in Singapore, with offices in the USA, Europe, and China.

After 30 years at Eastport, he stepped down as Chairman in 2010 to focus on his other businesses. In addition to his shipping business, Mr. Tham is actively involved in the housing development in Malaysia and China since 1989. His development companies have completed over 20 development projects ranging from residential housing and affordable homes to commercial shops.

With extensive experience in both property development and investment in emerging markets, Mr. Tham began to explore the opportunities in the Vietnamese real estate market. Understanding that affordability is an important factor for most Vietnamese home buyers, his vision brought him to establish National Housing Organization in 2012, to develop quality homes that most Vietnamese can afford. As Chairman of N.H.O, his hope is for the company to eventually build 10,000 homes annually for Vietnam.