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BUSINESS
IN BRIEF 5/4
Binh made the
affirmation in
“We think that
issues in the two countries’ trade relations should be considered in a fair
and objective manner in line with the spirit of trade liberalisation as well
as the developing bilateral economic-trade ties,” he stated.
Under the DOC’s
decision, announced on March 31, Vietnamese frozen tra fish fillets exported
to the
Accordingly, the
anti-dumping duties on products of two mandatory reviewed companies, Vinh
Hoan and Hung Vuong, are 0.03 USD per kilo and 1.2 USD per kilo respectively,
and for other companies it is 0.42 USD per kilo.-
This reflects the
international community's acknowledgement of
In the times ahead,
the Vietnamese government will continue providing explanations of its market
economy to several partners, including the
Under the
commitments to the World Trade Organisation,
PVEP starts
producing oil commercially in Peru
The PetroVietnam
Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) began producing oil
commercially from Block 67 off the coast of
Block 67 is PVN’s
second project in
Earlier, PVEP
negotiated with Perenco, an oil exploration and production group, to buy
52.6% of Perenco Peru Limited’s shares. The holding permits PVEP to earn 50%
of profits from Block 67.
Initial oil output
from Block 67 is 6,000 barrels a day, which will be shipped to a station
600km away to sell.
At an April 1
ceremony in
Luis Ortigas Cuneo,
Chairman of Peru’s national oil and gas group PeruPetro, said this is the
first time in 40 years a foreign joint venture has exploited oil fields in
According to the
General Department of Customs' statistics, this amount comprises 53 per cent
of
Among
Invest
ASEAN: Foreign companies keen on Vietnam
More than 100
foreign financial organisations showed their interest in the Vietnamese
market during their working sessions with the country’s businesses on the
sidelines of the “Invest ASEAN” conference held in
A representative
from the Bao Viet Group said that many major corporations, including France’s
BNP Paribas Management Partners bank and
Leaders of
Vietnamese businesses all agreed that the conference offered a venue for
investors to meet and seek partners.
John Chong, CEO of
Maybank Kim Eng Group, said that Invest ASEAN drew 70 companies from six
ASEAN member countries -
It also saw the
participation of representatives of corporations from 17 countries with a
total market capitalisation of 135 billion USD as well as funds totalling
over 14 trillion USD in assets under management.
The event aimed to
enhance investors’ awareness and understanding of the investment potential in
ASEAN as well as spur investments into the region.
President and CEO
of Malaysia’s Maybank Group Datuk Abdul Farid Alias expressed his optimism at
Agriculture
trade complex for
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development and the Korean Pan Asia Co., Ltd. are
jointly studying the model of an agriculture wholesale and trading complex
for
The ministry will
coordinate with the Industry and Trade Ministry and the General Association
of Agriculture and Rural Development to modernise the distribution system of
the seafood and farm produce in the capital city.
Equipped with IT
auction system, the complex is expected to reduce the go-betweens in trade to
create bigger bring economic efficiency for local farmers, and help stablise
the market prices for their produce.
It is also hoped to
supply quality goods for the 2019 Asian Sports Festival, and benefit exports
via the remote auction system with the
Additionally, the
Cold Chain System linking with the complex will be built to better the frozen
food and materials distribution network.
A master plan for
this project is scheduled to complete within this year.
Deputy Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang highlighted the Memorandum
of Understanding on the complex signed between the ministry and President of
Pan Asia Huh Sul during his March visit to
Thang added that
the company has also inked a similar document with the General Association on
cooperation in the management and operation of the complex and human resource
training.-
Cambodia
legislature passes investment protocol with Vietnam
The National
Assembly of Cambodia on April 3 ratified a protocol on the investment
promotion and protection agreement between the governments of
All 64
parliamentarians of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in the National
Assembly approved the document.
Mok Mareth,
Chairman of the Commission on Investment, Agriculture, Rural Development,
Environment, and Water Resources at the National Assembly, said the document
aims to enhance investor confidence and facilitate investment between the two
countries.
Sok Chenda Sophea,
Secretary General of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, said the
protocol will help maintain, promote and facilitate investment ties between
the two neighbouring countries.
The Association of
Vietnamese Investors in
Strong FDI
poured into HCM City’s IZs in Q1
Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) poured into the
According to the
HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority (Hepza), it granted
investment licenses to 12 new FDI projects with a total registered capital of
223.2 million USD during the period, up more than 8 times compared to the
figure of the same period last year.
Meanwhile, nine
ongoing projects of this kind in the City raised their existing capital by
20.34 million USD.
Internal capital
inflow to the zones in the period reached almost 713.3 billion VND (33.91
million USD), registering a year-on-year increase of nearly 65 percent. The
City also granted investment licenses to eight new projects in the period.
Hepza has to date
licensed 1,293 projects with a total capital of over 8 billion USD, of which
514 are FDI projects worth 4.935 billion USD.
In the second
quarter, Hepza plans to assist the
This year, the
southern economic and business hub aims to attract 2.5 billion USD in FDI
capital, which is 20 percent higher than last year's figure.
Last year, it drew
in 2.08 billion USD in FDI.
Nation on
target to hit GDP growth target
The country’s
economic growth will improve in the next quarter and the 5,8% GDP growth
target will likely be met thanks to the Government’s measures to increase
aggregate demand, according to the National Financial Supervisory Committee.
Growth will improve
next quarter in the wake of an interest rate cut and Government bond
investment increase that support aggregate demand, the committee said, adding
that GDP is expected to continue rising for the next three quarters after a
4.96% surge in Q1.
The 4.96% growth
rate was higher than the same period of the past two years thanks to the
recovery of the agriculture, forestry, fishery, construction and industrial
sectors.
After a long
decline that lasted from the beginning of 2011 until Q2 last year, GDP has
steadily increased. Improved results were also seen in the macro-economy, the
committee said.
The manufacturing
and processing sector has risen since Q2 last year and continuously improve
7.3% year on year in Q1 while the country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)
reached 52.1, pointing to a fifth consecutive monthly improvement in business
conditions in the sector- the second strongest in the survey’s history, just
shy of the record achieved in April 2011.
High export growth
in Q1 also contributed to the optimistic forecast. The country gained a trade
surplus of more than US$1 billion in Q1, the highest level since 2010.
Inflation was also
controlled at only 0.8% in Q1, the lowest rise since 2005. The inflation slowdown
led to interest rate cut that helped credit growth and eased firm’s
difficulties.
However, the
committee noted that aggregate demand improvements remained slow. Excluding
inflation, the retail sale value of goods and services in Q1 rose only 5.1%,
not much higher than the rates of 5% in Q1 2012 and 4.5% in Q1 2013.
To meet the GDP
growth target, the committee recommended that in addition to economic
restructuring for long-term growth, the Government should pay attention to
supporting aggregate demand, boosting consumption and aiding farmers and
businesses through interest rate cuts and bank credit access.
It was also
necessary to speed up the disbursement of investment capital from the State
budget and Government bonds, the committee said.
ADB warns
of widening economic divide in Asia
Impressive economic
gains in
Nearly 750 million
people in the region still survive on less than 1.25 USD a day, while income
inequality has risen more than 20% in the last 20 years. These levels hinder
further economic advancement and even threaten the sustainability of an
otherwise sharp reduction in poverty, according to a just-released study on
ADB’s Support for Inclusive Growth by Independent Evaluation at the
Manila-based financial institution.
Development
organisations such as ADB, for their part, can step up efforts to integrate
inclusive growth into their development strategies, says the study. ADB
adopted inclusive growth as a strategic agenda in 2008, and seeks strong
progress in making it an operational reality, it says.
“Inclusive growth
is more than a desirable goal. By tapping the contribution of the
lower-income groups as well, it becomes an essential ally for sustaining
growth itself,” says Vinod Thomas, director general of Independent
Evaluation.
A part of the
problem is that lower-income groups have inadequate access to basic services
in health care, education, or safe drinking water and sanitation. Case
studies from
At the same time,
overall growth has failed to translate into similar improvements in average
living standards. One of the indications that growth is not reaching a broad
enough segment of the population is relatively weak household consumption.
According to the study’s estimates, household consumption grew 5.7% annually
in the 1990s in the region and 5.5% in the 2000s, well below gross domestic
product growth of 9.0% and 8.2% in the two decades.
This is troublesome
for countries attempting to expand domestic consumption as part of efforts to
raise their economies to new levels of development and bring the benefits of
growth to more people.
“Eliminating poverty
in the region remains a major piece of unfinished business. Growing first and
addressing social inclusion later does not seem appropriate any longer,” says
Hyun Hwa Son, the principal author of the report.
The new report
calls for efforts to forge better coordination and synergies among
development organizations. It also pays to tailor inclusive approaches to the
specific contexts and needs of countries because one size does not fit all.
There is a clear need to go beyond simply financing projects, and toward
integrating inclusion objectives into the design and selection of projects
and country programs.
“Economic growth
alone is not sufficient to improve people’s welfare: we need complementary
measures to help translate growth into commensurate improvements in living
standards. The best way to do that is to include progressively lower-income
strata in the growth process,” says Thomas.-
VN-Index
earns second best performing index
This has been
reported by Zero Hedgean economic and finance website. The website has taken
Bloomberg data to make its own charts of best and worst performing indexes.
Accordingly, the
VN-Index of
According to the
website, Q1 winners are mostly from the Middle-Eastern countries, including
In December 2013,
it put Vietnamese stocks in "the best longs for 2014", along with
gold and gold shares, and forecast that the local market would continue to go
up. On April 3, the VN-Index gained 7.77 points, or 1.34 percent, to reach
589.44 in
Travel expo
looks to sustainable tourism development
Vietnam
International Travel Mart (VITM), the leading travel event for the country,
kicked off in
This is the second
time the Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in coordination with the Ministry
of Culture, Sports and Tourism and
At the opening
ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam called on ministries, departments,
associations and the Vietnamese public to join hands to develop a domestic
tourism trademark and transform
He affirmed that
the event contributes significantly to the development of sustainable tourism
in the country, acknowledging that the sector has made strong progress in
achieving sustainable tourism in recent years, despite the global economic
slowdown.
The number of
foreign arrivals to the country grew by more than 29% in the first quarter of
this year and its turnover increased by more than 30%.
People in countries
throughout the world, including
VITA Vice Chairman
Vu The Binh said the fair is expected to attract around 3,000 companies
seeking cooperation partners and around 50,000 consumers desirous of
purchasing promotional tours and services.
The fair includes
attractive consumer promotions with aviation agents offering 15,000 tickets
costing from VND199,000 on international routes and VND330,000 on domestic
routes, and travel agents offering 8,000 promotional tours with a 60%
discount.
Officials, scholars
and businesses of the International Organisation of Francophonie (OIF) began
a two-day forum in
In his opening
speech, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc noted that
with 77 member countries and governments and a population of more than 800
million, Francophonie is not only an important force in dealing with
international hot issues, but a populous and dynamic community facing all the
challenges and difficulties common to Vietnam and other nations in the
Asia-Pacific Region.
He expressed hope
delegates will evaluate the impact of the global economic slowdown on member
state economies and set course for the community, to help Francophonie
develop an economic development strategy for the Asia-Pacific region – one of
the most dynamic regions in the world.
Anissa Barrak, an
OIF representative in the Asia-Pacific region, noted from its inception,
economic cooperation has and continues to be the hallmark of the rich,
vibrant and multi-faceted Francophonie community.
Anissa briefed
participants on the activities of the community, such as teaching the French
language, strengthening scientific research, improving judicial capacity, and
running vocational training courses.
She spoke highly of
the ASEAN dynamic economic region in the international economic cooperation
arena, especially the four Francophonie members –
Both Anissa and
Ngoc expressed their conviction that delegates at the forum will bring fresh,
creative and dynamic ideas for developing a comprehensive and much improved
Francophonie community.
The two-day forum
will address four main topics spanning improving the efficacy of the Francophonie
economic strategy, specific characteristics of Asia-Pacific region and its
impact on Francophonie economic strategy, sharing experience in economic
cooperation, and closing ceremony.
Greece-Vietnam
business council debuts in Athens
A business council
has been established in
Among distinguished
guests at the debut ceremony were Panagiotis Mihalos, Secretary General for
International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation under the Greek
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Vu Binh, Vietnamese ambassador to
In his address,
Mihalos welcomed the establishment of the Greece-Vietnam Business Council
(HVBC) as a significant contribution to the strong and long-term development
of bilateral economic ties.
He expressed hope
the two sides will work closer together to facilitate economic development in
their respective countries.
At its first
session, HVBC elected Constantinos Antonopoulos, CEO of Intralot Group - a
Greek company that supplies integrated gaming and sports betting management,
as its president.
Despite
The meeting comes
on the heels of the high-profile Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. (JTC)
scandal in which JTC was alleged to pay several Vietnamese transport
officials JPY80 million in kickbacks in return for an ODA project in
Vietnamese and
Japanese representatives exchanged ideas, and dilated on the differing types
of abuses of ODA funds that can potentially occur and the specific control
measures to be deployed to detect and deter them.
They agreed that
enhancing transparency is one of the strongest measures that needs to be
given effect in combating corruption along with a number of other practical
measures.
There was also
consensus that the measures should be timely implemented in the near future
to restore confidence in the ODA funding mechanisms in
They agreed to hold
another meeting pending results of the ongoing investigation into the JTC
scandal.
Deputy Minister of
Transport Nguyen Hong Truong revealed that the Prime Minister has authorised
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to officially take charge of
Small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) from
The meeting was
held after the freshly concluded fifth round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
negotiations between
Delegates agreed
The meeting
garnered great interest of the business communities from both sides, as it
provides an opportune occasion to lay the groundwork for future bilateral
trade and investment after the FTA is signed.
Vietnamese Minister
of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang briefed
Hoang extended an
open invitation to citizens of
Many Vietnamese
people speak the Russian language and this is an effective tool for
people-to-people exchange, Hoang said.
Anhia, a
representative from a travel agency which often conducts tours of
A
He said he believes
the problem can be ameliorated through dialogues and business exchanges, and
hopes Vietnamese tea thrives in the marketplace of
Phan Van Tuan,
President of Lya Group and President of the Overseas Vietnamese Association
in
Hung Kings
Fair attracts over 200 businesses
More than 200
domestic organizations and businesses are attending the 2014 Hung Kings Fair
which was opened in the northern midland
On display are
different kinds of high-quality products, including household utensils,
interior and exterior decorations, electronics, garments, fashions,
agro-forestry and fisheries products, processed food, fertilizes, handicrafts
and agricultural machines.
The fair offers
participating businesses the chance to promote their products, seek
partnerships and expand domestic markets. It also responds to the campaign
“Vietnamese people buy Vietnamese goods”.
The fair, held by
the Phu Tho provincial People’s Committee in collaboration with Ministry of
Industry and Trade, is part of the 2014 Hung Kings Festival.
French
textile enterprises ready for Vietnamese cooperation
French textile
machinery manufacturers desire to establish long-term mutually beneficial
relationships with Vietnamese businesses.
Evelyne Cholet,
Secretary General of the French Textile Machinery Manufacturers Association
(UCMTF), was speaking at a seminar in
She said that
French enterprises want to become
In the fiercely
competitive world market place, French enterprises still assert a
competitiveness edge and have found an important niche in the market thanks
to technological innovation and quality improvement, she added.
For her part,
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said
The Vietnamese
Government always creates the most favorable conditions for textile
enterprises to expand their operations, and continues to increase investment
in weaving and dyeing technologies.
She proposed that
the Vietnamese and French business communities make the best of experience
exchange and technology transfer to increase the added value of
Over the past 10
years,
In the first
quarter of this year, it grossed more than US$4.54 billion from export, a
year-on-year increase of 20%.
Freelancers
look at work from a fresh perspective
Following a
three-year stint at various marketing and advertising agencies in
"You don't
have to belong to a major agency to be creative," said Vinh, who
graduated from the
With about four
years as a freelancer under his belt, the 30-year-old has done creative ads,
websites, promotional materials, newsletters and graphic designs for about 30
clients ranging from non-profit organisations to health and fitness centres.
"The great thing
about being a freelancer is that you get to choose your clients, decide on
the quality of your work and pitch your ideas directly," he said.
Vinh is a member of
But the challenges
facing freelancers are also abundant: gaining the trust of clients, having
on-time payments, meeting deadlines or dealing with projects that could turn
upside-down.
Seeing such demand
to connect freelancers with potential clients, in mid-2013, Tran Ngoc Tuan,
an IT freelancer from
Tuan now employs a
team of seven people to run the site, where freelancers can create their
profile and clients can find those with suitable skills. Tuan said the site
does not charge anyone and he claims already there are about 7,000 users.
"Most
freelancers were previously skilled professionals, not untrained
hopefuls," he said. "I think this generation is looking for
something newer and more challenging rather than just working at a company
and waiting for promotion."
According to Tuan,
freelancing mostly appeals to those who previously worked as writers,
photographers, consultants, website developers, programmers or copywriters,
because basically these kind of works allow you to work on your own.
"The financial
stress and lack of networking skills are the two biggest hurdles for those
who take on the risks of freelancing," Tuan added.
At the same time
that youngsters in many countries are facing tighter job markets, freelancing
could be a sustainable and profitable career, said Evan Tan, regional
director for
"The young
grew up with the Internet and see the vast potential of not just networking
with people but also looking for niches where they can earn money," Tan
said. "This is a growing market with a lot of potential."
A recent report
released last week by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and
the General Statistics Office suggests that, at the end of last year, there
were about 72,000 people with some kind of college degree out of work.
Therefore,
"those who have the guts to drop full-time jobs must prove they have
something special to offer," said Pham Xuan Quy, a 25-year-old
freelancer who specialises in organising events.
"Working as a
freelancer does not mean you can sleep until noon. That is not what this is
about. You have to wake up at the same time as your client and work to build
up your skills and brand."
He is also part of
a network that is called freelancerviet.vn, which connects freelancers with
clients. Since being launched in September 2013, founder Pham Lan Khanh from
Ho Chi Minh City said the total value of freelancing projects on the site had
reached 1.5 billion VND (70,500 USD).
Khanh said some
freelancers could not handle the financial stress and instability of working
on their own and eventually returned to work as full-time office workers. So
she and other co-founders frequently organise meetings in both
"I believe
that in the next two or three years more people will become engaged in
freelance work due to the development of technology - and an economy that is
becoming more digitalised as more businesses learn more about
cost-cutting."
Jason Lusk,
co-founder of ClickSpace, a community centre for freelancers in the West Lake
area set up in March last year, agrees that the trend is taking off in
Vietnam. Many foreign freelancers are also coming here and they need to find
Vietnamese collaborators.
ClickSpace holds a
monthly meeting called Hanoi Freelancers Meet-up, which attracts on average
about 40 people per session, according to Lusk.
Quy admitted that
in
Experts
urge Vietnamese firms to build online profiles
Just 20 percent of
Vietnamese companies have registered international and local internet domain
names, and the lack of web-based exposure could hurt other firms in the
future, experts said at a seminar on March 28.
The seminar, held
in the northern coastal city of
According to the
VNNIC, only 20 per cent of 500,000 companies in
VNNIC deputy
director Tran Minh Tan said internet domain plays an important role in
business operations now as it helps companies advertise themselves in the
cyberworld.
"Nowadays, the
success and fall of a company can partly be due to the way they do business
in the internet world. I think Vietnamese businesses should consider the
Internet an important part of their operation," Tan said.
The centre informed
the seminar that over 90,000 new ".vn" domains were activated last
year, bringing the total number of national domain names to 263,900.
The increase has
helped the country keep its number one position in
Among these, domains
with Vietnamese names accounted for 127,166, said the centre, which functions
under the Ministry of Information and Communications.
The VNNIC said it
earned revenues of 143 billion VND (6.8 million USD) from domain activation
and subscription fees in 2013, exceeding its annual target by 15 percent.
According to the
Ministry of Information and Communications, internet service providers (ISPs)
in Vietnam earned 15 trillion VND (more than 714 million USD) in revenues
last year, with 5 trillion VND (238 million USD) coming from 3G network
services.
Between 2009 and
2013, the number of internet users increased by 170 percent, and broadband
availability climbed 7.5 times compared with 2005-09.
The number of
internet users is expected to reach 60 million by 2018, and total revenue
from internet services and content is expected to climb to 100 trillion VND
(4.7 billion USD).
UAE tops
phone importers' list
The United Arab
Emirates (UAE) is the biggest importer of Vietnamese phones and phone
accessories, with growth of over 100 percent year-on-year since 2010.
According to the
Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese cellphones to the UAE reached
export turnover of 71 million USD in 2010, then jumped to 364 million USD in
2011, 1.5 billion USD in 2012 and more than 3 billion USD last year.
In a report
released on March 28, the General Department of Vietnam Customs' online news
site, www.baohaiquan.vn, quoted a department figure as saying that the UAE
had paid nearly 520 million USD to import Vietnamese phones in the first two
months of this year.
The figure
represented over 81 percent of total UAE import turnover from
Also, according to
the report, the export value to the UAE accounted for more than 15 percent of
total Vietnamese phone export turnover in the first two months of the year,
when
The other major
importers of Vietnamese phones in the first two months were the US with a
turnover of over 284 million USD, Germany 184 million USD, the UK over 182
million USD, Hong Kong nearly 140 million USD, Russia 140 million USD, and
Italy 120 million USD.
Last year, the UAE
was the biggest importer of Vietnamese phones. Import value was 3.2 billion
USD, accounting for 16 percent of Vietnamese phone and accessory export
turnover, and representing 83 percent of the UAE's total import value from
The other main
products that the UAE imports from
Reform
committee claims success in enterprise transformation
The National
Steering Committee for Enterprise Reform and Development helped reshuffle 101
state-run businesses in 2013 and privatise six others in the first three
months of this year.
The figure was
released during the committee’s meeting on March 28 to review its operations
in 2013 and the first three months of this year.
According to a
report at the event, the committee helped speed up the submission and
issuance of 24 legal documents on the re-organisation and restructuring of
state-owned enterprises.
Addressing the
event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, head of the committee, said in 2013
and the first three months of 2014, the committee recorded a strong
performance.
It proactively
coordinated with other agencies to help the government and the Prime Minister
adopt proper policies on the re-organisation and reform of enterprises, he
added.
He also asked
ministries to reconsider a number of matters, including the salary management
in joint stock companies using state capital, the accounting mechanism in
state-owned firms, and the re-organisation of agro-forestry businesses to
enhance their operational efficiency.
In the remaining
nine months of this year, the committee will continue assisting ministries to
submit proposals to the government and the Prime Minister on the issuance of
policies, Deputy PM Ninh said.
He urged the
Ministry of Information and Technology to promulgate organisational and
operational regulations for the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication company,
and the Ministry of Finance to review the financial management of major
groups, including the Oil and Gas Group and the Vietnam Electricity.
He also directed
the committee to inspect the restructuring of ministries, sectors and
state-run economic groups and corporations.-
A business
cooperation programme, funded by the Danish International Development Agency
(DANIDA), will raise its support towards
Since 1997, the
programme has donated more than 74 million USD to 300 pilot projects and over
150 long-term partners in
Ambassador John
Nielsen expressed his belief that the programme, together with other business
support tools of the Danish agency, will contribute to reducing the number of
local people living in poverty and boosting the country’s sustainable
development.
The Danish
Government and its businesses have been providing Vietnamese partners with
knowledge in the fields of food safety and clean technology.
In the time to
come, DANIDA will focus on supporting the country to see it grow in a more
sustainable manner. This process will include green technology transfer, job
generation and environmental improvement.
Of the amount, 5.4
million USD is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the remainder
from the local budget.
The project is
being carried out between 2009 and 2015, aiming at the sustainable production
of vegetables and tea, generating jobs for the agriculture sector, improving
farmers’ health and productivity, and developing biogas for their daily use.
It is also expected
to zone off areas for organic agriculture production in five communes in the
capital, build infrastructure and equip farmers with cultivation techniques.
CBRE: HCMC
office rents to remain stable
The real estate
services firm has been tracking 175 new small and medium-sized mixed use
commercial buildings in the southern economic hub, said Greg Ohan, national
director for office services at CBRE Vietnam. Half the buildings are being
built by State-run companies and 50 per cent are ready to be occupied.
Ohan said the
tracking fund helps large tenants planning for an occupancy solution and that
the market would remain tight until the end of 2014. “As a result, rent
levels will remain stable until at least the first quarter next year when the
next wave of supply comes online.”
In the first
quarter this year, only one new Grade B office building is slated to be
finished in the city. The MB
During 2013, unlike
the Hanoi market where Grade A office supply continued to rise, particularly
in outlying districts, the Ho Chi Minh City market was stable with limited
new Grade A and Grade B office supply in both the CBD and further districts,
Ohan said.
According to CBRE,
the southern market offers few options for multinationals seeking
international standard and quality buildings with large availability until
the year-end. The reason is that in the CBD, just seven Grade A buildings and
three Grade B buildings are able to provide 1,000 square metre spaces at
adjacent levels. In particular, the
As for last year’s
leasing, the tracking fund showed the top five most active sectors were
technology, manufacturing, finance, education, and retail. When it came to
countries,
Lotte
Coralis receives security award
Le Jong Kook,
general director of Lotte Coralis
Lotte Coralis
The award
demonstrated the appreciation of the Hanoi Public Security Department had for
the efforts by officials, contractors, security forces and workers in
protecting public security and order to ensure construction safety, not only
in the area of their Lotte Centre building but also in surrounding areas.
Leaders of Hanoi
Public Security Department also encouraged the staff to keep trying, striving,
thus establish many achievements that contribute to the development of
Lotte Centre
started construction at the end of 2009 and has undergone more than 11
million hours of labour safety with no accidents. It is expected to be
completed by the end of June 2014.
Once finished,
World Bank experts
share experiences with affordable housing
The country’s
strategy, however, should be analysed carefully to avoid slums like other
cities, experts have warned.
According to
Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director in
“This growth is
expected to generate enormous new housing demands, especially in the low and
middle income segments due to large scale rural-urban migration,” said Kwakwa
at a seminar held in
Kwakwa said
Vietnamese authorities should better define and understand the housing
deficit for poor urban households – the bottom 40 per cent or those below the
median income.
“In this context we
believe it is important to also consider the housing conditions of migrants,
not only those of officially registered residents. It will also be important
to think of ways of formalising those living in informal settlements.
“Given the rate of
rural to urban migration and the fact many new arrivals to the city work in
the informal sector, there is a risk that informal settlements may grow
rapidly. By addressing the issue of informality in the housing sector
head-on,
Responding as to
why the housing sector in
“This mismatch
suggests market failures in the housing sector. It is important to understand
the causes of these market failures,” she added.
In countries where
there is ample relatively affordable housing across income strata, the role
of governments she said must be to ensure a level playing field for market
participants with specific assistance provided to the poorest households.
“When governments
focus on the enabling environment, resources from the private sector can be
better leveraged to create a sound and sustainable housing sector,” she said.
Abhas Jha, sector
manager of Urban, Disaster Risk Management and Transport, East Asia Pacific
under the WB said that to avoid slumps, the government can proactively enable
affordable housing without direct provisions by improving the land market and
increasing accessibility and mitigating risk.
“Planning must be
part of the integrated, long-term, risk sensitive land use and transportation
planning,” Jha said.
Moreover,
affordability should be considered including a range of interrelated
expenditures, not just the cost of a housing unit, he added.
Construction
Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said Vietnamese people have a high demand for
accommodation but house prices are much higher than average income.
“Therefore, making
houses affordable requires support from the government and even international
organisations,” Dung added, noting that housing is determined as a priority
in socio-economic development policy until 2020 with a view to 2030.
As such, a series
of legal documents have been issued to support the development of the social
housing market, notably the low interest VND30 trillion ($1.41 billion) loan
package aimed at homebuyers and property developers.
The thing Vietnam
must do first and immediately is increase the supply of affordable housing to
disburse the above package from the government and therefore provide more and
more affordable housing.
The second thing
that must be done, Dung said, is continue reviewing the law related to this
issue to transfer the package to the right receivers as soon as possible.
Vietnam has the
goal of building 10 million square metres of social housing, mainly apartment
buildings, by 2015 to meet low-income earners’ demands. It will provide
support for 400,000 poor families in rural areas in need of houses.
Source: VEF/VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/Dantri/VIR
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Thứ Sáu, 4 tháng 4, 2014
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