Nearly VND1.5 trillion to build tunnel, overpass in Thu Duc crossroad

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport has just ratified an initial report on a project to build tunnel and overpass in Thu Duc intersection in HCM City at a cost of VND1.466 billion (US$77 million).

As planned, the tunnel will run along Hanoi Highway, and have a length of 80 meters and eight lanes. The overpass will be 370 meters long and have four lanes.

The traffic-circle will be 40 meters in diameter.

The project’s owner is Urban Traffic Management Department No. 2.

The department is set to soon submit to the city’s People’s Committee method of investment to carry out the project as soon as possible.

Source: SGGP

Korean investor to build exhibition center in HCM City soon

Korean-invested Sky Expo Vietnam Co. will start work on a large-scale exhibition center in HCMC’s Quang Trung Software City in the middle of next month, mainly to cater to ICT events in the country, said the investor.

Sky D. Kim, general director of Sky Expo Vietnam, told the Daily on Monday the sprawling exhibition center named Saigon Sky Expo Center would cost some US$44.6 million, and first-phase construction will be completed late this year.

The center will cover nearly 40,000 square meters in the premises of Quang Trung Software City in the city’s District 12, and when fully commissioned, it will supply over 12,000 square meters of indoor exhibition space and 4,000 square meters of outdoor exhibition space. The center will also have a conference center of over 2,800 square meters, and other facilities such as a food and beverage center, a golf driving range, an entertainment area, a fitness center and a hotel.

The first phase of the project will be put into operation late this year, becoming the third international convention center in the city after the HCMC International Exhibition and Convention Center in Tan Binh District and Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7.

Kim stressed that the new center would provide a venue of entertainment for the city’s people besides the exhibition business.

“We will have an entertainment area at the park for some 8,000 people on weekends in addition to the convention center,” he said.

The main focuses of the company are important international exhibitions, many of them from events involving ICT. Initially, in its first year of operation projected in 2011, the center is expected to host 35 exhibitions, 80% of which will be international events.

Mentioning the project’s second phase, Kim said that in late 2011 the company would start work on a hotel and expand the functional facilities following its initial commitments.

Kim said he expected the new center in the next ten years will become a leading convention center in Vietnam and in the region.

Source: Saigon Times

Where are Viet Kieu house-buyers?

High prices and complicated procedures are two main factors that hinder Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) plans to buy houses in Vietnam.

When the Government allowed Viet Kieu to purchase houses in Vietnam, real estate investors rejoiced. They hoped to earn tons from selling houses to Viet Kieu. Now, very few houses have been sold, even though a series of high-end real estate projects have been launched.

Real estate agents report that many Viet Kieu come to explore procedures for buying houses. After investigating the market, many give up their plans because of overly high prices.

Vinh Nghiem, a Viet Kieu in the US, really wants to return to Vietnam, but he still must consider whether or not to purchase a house since they are so expensive.

A real estate developer, who asks to remain anonymous, explained that many Viet Kieu also have financial problems. Owning houses in Vietnam is just a third or even fourth priority for Viet Kieu, especially when they have to spend a lot of money to buy houses in their home countries. To encourage them, he asserted, there should be suitable financial solutions.

Le Hoang Chau, Chair of HCM City Real Estate Association, agreed that not many Viet Kieu have enough money. Chau remarked that the decision to allow Viet Kieu to buy houses in Vietnam only stimulated the market a little.

Chau observed that Viet Kieu, just like other Vietnamese people, must pay tax equal to two percent of the total value or 25 percent of the profit. The tax makes everyone hesitate to purchase or sell houses.

According to Luong Bach Van, Chair of the Liason Association of Overseas Vietnamese in HCM City, the door to Viet Kieu is just half-open.

Under current laws, Viet Kieu can purchase houses without Vietnamese nationality. Yet it is difficult for Viet Kieu born in foreign countries and whose parents have died because they cannot prove their origin. Without such evidence, they cannot purchase houses in Vietnam.

Other analysts note that the Government still does not have a decree to guide implementation of the law.

Sources from the Ministry of Construction stated that they have opened a draft document on the law to collect opinions.

Source: Vietnam Net

Master zoning plan will not move Vietnam capital

A master zoning plan for Hanoi until 2030 will not move all the central government agencies out of the capital’s center as recently speculated, an official said.

In fact, a national administrative center would be set up around Ba Vi Mountain, some 60 kilometers from the city’s center, while many central political and constitutional agencies would stay in Ba Dinh District, Ngo Trung Hai (photo), head of Vietnam Institute of Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, said in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre.

Hai made the statement after Vietnam Building Environment Association on Sunday proposed the National Assembly and the government postpone approving the plan made by the US-South Korea consultant joint-venture PPJ and the institute.

The association said moving the national administrative center would mean moving the country’s capital in effect, denying Hanoi’s 1,000-year history.

However, Hai argued that the move was necessary, as it would make the governance easier, adding that many other countries had made the move.

Once several agencies were moved out of the city’s center, there would be more space for public works and trees, he added.

Hai also rejected the association’s concerns over risks contained in the project to set up cities along the Red River as part of the master plan.

According to the official, the zoning plan was backed by a specific research board and already taken public feedback into consideration, so it was not a “random” plan as critics made it out to be.

As for the association’s doubt about the possibility of cutting down the population in four central districts to 80,000 by 2030 given the current population is nearly 1.2 million, Hai said it was a significant need to control the population, if they wanted the capital city to become greener and more sustainable.

Related agencies and associations needed to join the plan to meet the target, he stressed.

Asked about the association’s accusation that the “green corridor” and biological diversity reserve establishment listed in the plan was unreal, Hai said their plan was supported by advanced computer programs and reports from agencies dealing with natural resources and environment.

Hanoi would have three reserves to preserve its biological diversity, and these plans were made in accordance with environment laws, Hai said.

First prepared in December 2008, the US$7-million project, titled General Zoning Plan for developing the capital through 2030 with a vision until 2050, is expected to be finalized and submitted to the National Assembly this year.

Source: Vietnam Net

Lion Group to build more Parkson centres

The Lion Group plans to open more Parkson shopping centres in Vietnam to maintain the chain’s development and expand their retail network.

The group manages 82 Parkson stores, with five in Vietnam, 42 in China, and 35 in Malaysia. Parkson is focused on fashion, jewellery, cosmetics, furniture, electric goods and food.

Besides the Vietnamese and Chinese markets, Lion plans to penetratethe Cambodian and Indonesian and other ASEAN markets by the end of 2011.

Source: VOV News

Central Vietnam set for revival of resort boom

It will be an exciting year for resort development in the central coastal region with 700 rooms being added, real-estate consultant CB Richard Ellis has said in a report.

This will take the number of rooms in the region from Danang to Hoi An to 2,000.

The new rooms will be supplied by Silver Shore International Resort, Olalani, and Life Resort when they open to guests this quarter.

Half of the rooms will be in Danang-based four- and five-star resorts, tripling supply in Vietnam’s fourth-largest city.

But the new supply means it will outpace demand in the short term, softening occupancy rates this year despite a forecast of rising international tourist numbers to Danang, thanks to the global economic recovery and the receding swine-flu fears.

Supply is expected to quadruple in the next seven years with the construction of 34 resorts on the Danang-Hoi An stretch.

The market for resort condominiums and villas in Danang, dominated by two-bedroom condos and three-bedroom villas, will also see an upturn this year with the revival of projects that had been stalled by the economic downturn.

Condo supply is expected to top 700 units in 2010-11 -- against 374 last year -- with a total of 80,000 square meters of floor area.

The supply of villas is expected to hit 700 units, also almost double the current number.

The expected new developments are An Vie Da Nang Resort, Le Meridien, Hyatt Regency, Ocean Villas, Nam Long, Montgomerie, Vin Pearl Da Nang, and Son Tra Resort.

Around 63 percent of condos were sold out last year, with 80 percent of the buyers coming from Hanoi.

Investors have to be cautious when entering the market since “speculation is quite high” as many of the purchases have been in the form of “reservations.”

Vietnews

Realty project management firm makes its debut

VinaProjects - a joint venture between the VinaCapital Group and the inProjects Group - made its debut in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday, providing real estate services.

The company’s real estate services include project management, construction management, urban planning and facilities management in the Vietnamese market.

The VinaProjects is currently carrying out key urban development projects worth more than US$500 million in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang.

Matt Fletcher, Managing Director of inProjects - the leading independent project management group in Asia - lauded the Vietnamese market’s huge potential. The group’s target is to make the VinaProjects, and more importantly Vietnam, well known for the development of large-scale, high-quality projects.

This view was shared by the VinaCapital General Director, Don Lam, who said that his group was developing a number of major property projects in the country and wanted to apply international standards to their implementation.

As a leading asset management and property development firm in Vietnam, the VinaCapital is managing assets worth a total of US$1.6 billion.

Source: Vietnews