Lawrence Ting

Lawrence S. Ting (Đinh Thiện Lý; 1939–2004) was a Taiwanese decorated soldier and a pioneer businessman who became one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam.

As founder of Phu My Hung Corporation and Saigon South Urban Development Project, Lawrence Ting was instrumental in the southward expansion of Ho Chi Minh City.

Ting received a Certificate of Merit from the Superintendent of Republic of China Military Academy in 1958 and a Certificate of Merit from the Chief of Army in 1968.

Lawrence Ting was a graduate of the Republic of China Military Academy of Taiwan in 1961.

Ting was the First Captain of the Cadet Corp. and the head of the Academy's Cadet Honor Committee.

He was sent to the US to receive further training at the United States Army Infantry School School and was one of few military officers from Taiwan who completed the US Army Ranger School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

In 1964, he was awarded the National Defense Scholarship by the Ministry of National National Defense of Taiwan for further graduate-level studies at Columbia University.

He served as the General Secretary for Chinese Taipei Fencing Association (3 terms, 1973~1980 and 1985~1989), promoting with much effort to secure Taiwan's membership in the International Fencing Federation.

He also served as Vice Chairman of the R.O.C. Olympic Committee.

For his efforts, Ting received a Citation from President Chiang Kai-shek for outstanding leadership in international relations on sports events in 1974, and the Ministry of Education Gold Medal in Physical Sports in 1984.

In 1976, Lawrence Ting joined the China Gulf Plastics Group, a joint venture with Gulf Oil Corporation of the US.

He rose through the ranks from Manager, Chief Plant Manager, to Executive Vice President.

He later became president and equity partner of a number of subsidiary companies.

At the encouragement of Ting Tsung Chao (T.T. Chao), founder of China Gulf Plastics Group, Ting ran for and was elected Chairman of Taiwan Plastics Industry Association.

In 1976, he assumed the position of Chief de Mission of the Games of the 21st Olympiad in Montreal.

For other services rendered to the government, Ting received the Order of Hua Hsia (華夏三等獎章) in 1979.

In 1981, Henry Hsu (徐亨), Shen Chia Minh (沈家銘)(zh) and Lawrence Ting, finally were able to secure the re-entry of Olympic Games under the name Chinese Taipei.

Lawrence Ting was one of the earliest foreign investors in Vietnam since the Đổi Mới reform policy initiated in 1986, and launched a series of infrastructure project investments in Vietnam in 1989.

He was the founding Chairman of a number of companies including CT&D Group, Phu My Hung Corporation, Tan Thuan Corporation and Hiep Phuoc Power Company.

He served two terms for a total of 6 years (1988~1994).

At the request of the government, Ting also served as a Director of the China External Trade Development Council.

Ting was awarded a Merit Citation by the Minister of the Interior Wu Po-hsiung for services rendered.

Lawrence Ting was instrumental in negotiating the re-entry of Olympic Games for athletes from Taiwan.

Lawrence Ting and other alumni of the R.O.C. Military Academy established the R.O.C. Military Academy Alumni Foundation in 1989 and Ting served as its founding chairman from 1989 to 2004.

Lawrence Ting served as Secretary-General of the Columbia University Alumni Association of Taiwan for 6 years (1990~1996) and as the President of the Alumni Association for a further 6 years (1996~2003).

Ting was named as Outstanding Alumni by the Central Military Institutes in 1990.

Today, the neighborhood created by Ting has become “a new sustainable, inclusive, knowledge-based urban center.” Ting received the Ho Chi Minh City Medal of Honor in 1993 and Certificates of Merit of the Government of Vietnam from the Prime Minister in 1997 and 2001.

In 1993, Ting was awarded an Honorary Certificate of Merit (榮譽狀) by President Lee Teng-hui, the chairman of KMT.

Ting was awarded the Ho Chi Minh City Medal of Honor in 1993.

He also received Certificates of Merit from the Prime Minister of Vietnam in 1997 and 2001; a Certificate of Merit from the Mayor of Ho Chi Minh City in 2003.

Lawrence Ting died in 2004.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Phu My Hung Corporation's headquarter building was renamed Lawrence S. Ting building in memory of its chairman in 2005.

The Lawrence Ting Memorial Fund was set up in Vietnam in 2005.

“Phu My Hung (also known as Saigon South) was promoted by industrialists who took a long-term ‘build and hold’ approach and had an infrastructure-first master plan...The Model of Phu My Hung, where thoughtful, long-term oriented, private-sector actors help the world create efficient water, power, and transit solutions, can-and must-be replicated.” Ting received posthumously the Friendship Medal of Vietnam from President Nguyen Minh Triet in December 2007.

Lawrence S. Ting School (Trường THCS và THPT Đinh Thiện Lý) in Ho Chi Minh City, a private non-profit junior high and senior high school is named after him.

State President of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Triet, awarded him, posthumously, Vietnam's Friendship Medal in December 2007.

Lawrence S. Ting Memorial School was established in his name in 2008.

In 2010, the school became the first Microsoft Pathfinder School in Vietnam.

In the 2013 Harvard Business Review article The Big Idea, Building Sustainable Cities, John Macomber of Harvard Business School chose Phu My Hung's Saigon South Development Project started by Lawrence Ting as one of the leading sustainable urban development examples in the world.

In 2020, Taipei American School named its middle school Lawrence S. Ting Middle School in honor of Ting.