Malaysia's construction giant Gamuda Berhad has won approval from the Vietnamese government to develop a billion dollar commercial centre in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

Gamuda will partner Vietnamese state-owned Mechanical Engineering Services LLC to develop the the Yenso Park project, which covers an area of 327 hectares, the company said in a statement late Monday.

It will include a five-star hotel, an international convention center, offices, apartments, luxury condominiums and villas, a recreational club, community facilities and a botanic park, Gamuda said.

"The project is located beside the Yenso lake system, which will be environmentally upgraded," it said.

Reports Tuesday said the project by unit Gamuda Land was worth one billion dollars and would be completed within eight years.

"We are looking at developing the project, known as Yenso Park, in Hanoi city into a commercial urban centre," Gamuda Land's business development manager, John Yong, was quoted as saying in the Star daily.

"It is not going to be just a residential township development," he said, adding Gamuda will seek partnerships with international hotel operators and retailers.

"The payback for hotels is very fast, if done successfully. As far as residential properties in Vietnam are concerned, payments are very frontloaded, hence the risk to the developer is minimal," Yong said.

"The demand in Vietnam is so great that there is always a shortage of quality development there," he said.

Yong said Gamuda owns a majority stake of 80 percent in the venture, with the remaining 20 percent held by Mechanical Engineering Services, which owns the land for the project.