Local developers launch low-cost condos

Some buyers take a look at a blueprint of Binh Duong New City displayed at the sales launching event of TDC Plaza in Binh Duong Province last week - Photo: Dinh Dung

HCMC – Two local property developers have launched their condo projects currently underway in HCMC and the southern province of Binh Duong, offering more options to homebuyers who are searching for affordable homes.

Hai Thanh Trade and Production and Vinaconex Xuan Mai companies announced on Monday to start marketing their affordable condo project named Binh Tri Dong B on Ten Lua Street in HCMC’s Binh Tan District.

The apartment building is in a residential project called Hai Thanh – Ten Lua, which covers some 6.5 hectares and is designed with 104 garden houses, 31 row houses and three 12-story buildings with 352 apartments measuring 52 to 75 square meters each.

The developer said those apartments would be offered at VND10.5 million per square meter. The total value starting from around VND550 million per apartment is believed within the reach of many people, especially white-collar workers.

The company said it had partnered with banks such as Sacombank, HDbank and Techcombank to give financial support to homebuyers, offering loans with a down payment made within 20 years.

The condo project is scheduled for completion by the first quarter of 2012.

In another project, Binh Duong Trade and Development JSC late last week launched the second phase of a sales program for its condo project named TDC Plaza under development in the southern province of Binh Duong, some 35km from HCMC.

TDC Plaza is a component in Binh Duong New City, which covers some 1,000 hectares of land encompassing six communes in Ben Cat District and Thu Dau Mot Town in the province.

The project requires some VND1,000 billion for development and is designed with five blocks of buildings with 779 apartments from 82 to 117 square meters.

Doan Van Thuan, general director of the company, said TDC Plaza would hit the market with 150 apartments in the second phase of the sales program, with prices ranging from VND15 million to VND16 million per square meter.

The company wrapped up its first phase with 100 apartments sold out. Nearly half of the buyers came from HCMC, while investors from Hanoi accounted for 30% and the rest was locals.

The developer offers potential buyers down payment of up to eight years, instead of around three years as often seen.

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Vietnamese Rice Promoted Through Arts

Cherishing a dream of promoting the image of Vietnamese rice, three youths in their 20s have managed to collect over VND60 million to open a workshop making pictures from rice grains

Would the rice fall off pictures that have been kept for a long time? Would pictures made of rice be invaded by pests? What is the duration of rice paintings? A series of similar questions were raised by guests coming to view Thai Hoang rice pictures at the Vietnam-Binh Duong Ceramic Festival held in Binh Duong Province’s Thu Dau Mot Town last September.

According to 23-year-old Nguyen Thai Hau, one of the three founders of ThaiHoang Rice Picture in Bien Hoa City, there are eight steps involved in crafting a rice picture. First, select material – uncooked, even and fine rice grains that would not break or burst when being roasted. Next, color the rice by roasting it in a frying pan. Then draw a sketch, place the rice onto it piece by piece, glue the rice to ensure it remains stuck to the picture and allow it to dry in the sun for three days. The last step is chemical treatment for rice preservation before framing the picture.
“It normally takes two to seven days, or sometimes even a whole month to complete a rice picture, depending on its size. Currently, the smallest picture we can make is 20 square centimeters in size,” Hau said.

Hoang Minh Thai, the founder of Thai Hoang Rice Picture, born in 1986, made a graduation thesis at Dong Nai Arts College two years ago. He did not want to use natural materials like tree barks, soil and rattan for his artwork like what previous generations of students did. So he thought of using rice as a medium to create paintings as rice embodies Vietnam, a country with rich paddy fields. And he was not the first in the country to come up with this idea.

After graduation in 2009, Thai has collaborated with Hau and Nguyen Quoc Hung (born in 1984) to establish the rice painting facility with an initial capital of slightly over VND60 million. Thai is in charge of product design; Hau supervises production and looks for ways to extend the painting duration; and Hung oversees accounting and trading.

At the beginning, market access was difficult for the new product that was monotonous in theme and limited in colors. “Feedback from customers shows certain problems like grains falling off paintings after some period of time or due to movements while being transported; or moisture penetrating paintings while being framed in glass”, Hau said.

Aware of their product’s shortcomings, the trio sought to improve production techniques, use better quality glues and widen the color variety to 17 different hues. From the three base colors, white, yellow and brown, they found a formula to roast rice in a way to get more color tones. Not only did they succeed in enriching their color palette, Thai Hoang was also able to develop art themes to five, including landscape, calligraphy, arts, animals and portraits.

Hau considers portraits to be the hardest to create, demanding artisans’ attention to details, patience and persistence in creating contrasting hues. That’s why the price of this kind of paintings is higher than other products. A 60cm x 80cm painting costs VND1.5 million while a portrait of the same size is priced at VND2.2-2.5 million.

According to the three founders, while their crafting technique has been improved, business relationship establishment and product promotion still remain areas of great concern. Apart from the retail sales at their facility in Bien Hoa City and participation in trade fairs, Thai Hoang fulfills orders from a number of businesses and shops in HCM City.

Thai Hoang’s current goal is to develop a website soon to introduce their products and trademark, and ultimately realize their dream of bringing the image of Vietnam’s rice to the world.

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Developers offer incentives to woo homebuyers

HCMC - Two property developers in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces have announced strong incentives, offering installments plans and deep discounts for buyers of villas and row houses in their property projects currently underway.

SetiaBecamex JSC, developer of EcoLakes My Phuoc in Binh Duong Province, has launched the so-called EcoLakes 30/70 Homes Plan, requiring homebuyers to pay in advance a sum equal to 30% of the property in EcoLakes.

Khoo Teck Chong, general director of SetiaBecamex, explained that the program was designed to offer a simple home ownership or property investment plan where homebuyers pay 30% of the price in installments and get a loan for the balance. Homebuyers will not be charged interest during construction until their properties are completed and handed over.

The company said the current high interest rate is a burden for many homebuyers, making many people feel hesitate whether to take out a loan for buying a property. The program will help buyers save from VND70 million to VND200 million once they buy properties in the project

The Malaysian developer plans to launch 227 villas and row houses with prices starting from VND3.3 billion and VND1.2 billion respectively in the coming time.

In another project, Tin Nghia Corporation in Dong Nai Province has slashed prices by between 20% and 50% for a residential project in Bien Hoa City’s Tan Bien Ward in the southern province.

Some 100 villas and row houses from 200 to 250 square meters are offered at VND797 million per unit. Some banks are going along, offering financial support for homerbuyers.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, director of Tinnghia Land, says the program is designed to stir up the market demand as well as to offer the people a chance to buy a house. Construction of these properties has finished and homebuyers can move in.

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Charm Engineering to build huge complex in Binh Duong

Jeon Yong Ho, marketing director of Charm Engineering Co., Ltd introduces the Charm Plaza property project seen in the background on Thursday - Photo: Quoc Hung

HCMC – South Korea’s Charm Engineering on Thursday announced to choose Posco E&C as the contractor to build phase 1 of its Charm Plaza project as a mix-use property complex in the southern province of Binh Duong.

The Charm Plaza project will be an apartment complex comprising of six 25-floor blocks with about 2,700 units plus supermarkets, said the company, which is more known as a manufacturer of LCD equipment and semi-conductors. The sprawling complex, covering five hectares at Song Than area in Di An District, will have total floor space of 363,000 square meters.

This project is a big-scale one comparable to major urban development projects not only in Binh Duong Province but also in HCMC, said Jeon Yong Ho, marketing director of Charm Engineering Co., Ltd at a press meeting.

The US$200-million project will set up model houses next month for introduction to customers, he said, adding sales marketing for the project would start soon. “We are planning to carry out marketing activities right from October 2010.”

On the other hand, the company is also running a pre-sale campaign, and many people in surrounding areas of the project in Binh Duong have made phone calls asking for information about the project, he said.

Apartments at Charm Plaza vary from 50 to 115 square meters in size, and the company plans to set up a reasonable selling price range from US$800 to US$1,000 per square meter.

Ho added that by providing amenities such as swimming pools like the standard for resorts, Charm Plaza has created a difference from other apartments. In addition, when the second phase of this project is in place, Charm Plaza will attract supermarket operators to invest in Binh Duong.

By choosing Posco E&C as the contractor, Charm Engineering is expecting to achieve positive results in selling apartments in the future, he said. The contractor Posco has established its reputation in Vietnam via building the Diamond Plaza in the center of HCMC.

Starting its investment in Vietnam since 2007, Charm Engineering has seven real estate projects with combined investment capital of more than US$890 million.

Ho said Charm Engineering would continue other projects including Toc Tien new town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province covering more than 183 hectares; a five-star resort hotel in Chi Linh area in Vung Tau City over 10.5 hectares; a serviced apartment building in Binh Thanh District, HCMC and another apartment project with 500 units in Thu Dau Mot Town, Binh Duong. 

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Province cuts red tape for investors

Binh Duong province has made every effort to improve its infrastructure
and administrative formalities so as to attract more foreign investors,
said chairman of the provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Hoang Son.

The province had also taken advantage of its geography and offered incentives to lure foreign invested projects.

The province attracted more than 846 foreign invested projects with
registered capital reaching 7.3 billion USD between 2005 and 2010,
bringing the total number of projects in the province to date to 1,966
capitalised at 13.5 billion USD, said Son.

Investors
include Korean tyre manufacturer Kumho Asian Group, with a total
investment capital of 360 million USD and Thailand 's Siam Cement
Group, which specialises in producing packages, with a total investment
capital of 140 million USD. Malaysian property developer SP Setia Berhad
Group invested 620 million USD in the My Phuoc eco-urban project and a
60 million USD beverage factory was financed by Japan 's Kirin Acecook
Vietnam .

The strong attraction for foreign
invested projects was a positive sign, as it made a very important
contribution to the province's economic development and generated high
industrial value, said director of the Department of Planning and
Development Huynh Van Trai.

Local authorities have
worked with vocational schools to train skilled workers to meet the
greater labour demands that come with more foreign invested projects.

Paik In Ki, chairman of the Republic of Korea ’s
Financial Investment Association in Binh Duong, said foreign investos
were pleased to invest in the province as they could see good
infrastructure and good support from local authorities which helped
investors to be successful. His company would continue to act as a
bridge to provide other Korean businesses with a deep understanding of
the province's investment climate and raise their investment in the
province.

Binh Duong has developed 28 industrial parks covering 8,751ha.

Prominent projects in the province include the 3.5 trillion VND (179.5
million USD) My Phuoc-Tan Van road, which is currently under
construction. The road will be a major transportation route to
international airports and seaports.

Kang Myong Jun,
diretor of DJV Ltd Co, Automotive Manufacturing & Wholesales-Parts,
Automotive Repair & Service, said apart from good infrastructure,
other facilities such as accommodation and urban areas were also
important for luring foreign investors./.

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Funding shortfall hits City highway

A plan to upgrade and expand National Highway 13, which connects HCM City with neighbouring Binh Duong Province, has been postponed due to a lack of capital. — VNA/VNS Photo Quach Lam

HCM CITY — A project to upgrade and expand National Highway 13 has been delayed because the city lacks capital to speed up work, a senior transportation official says.

Meanwhile, many transport companies have complained that the delay is costing them money because of heavy traffic congestion.

The highway is the main road connecting HCM City and neighbouring Binh Duong Province, and it receives a large number of vehicles, including container trucks, everyday.

The upgrade and expansion project was initiated to deal with the heavy traffic congestion on the highway.

However, the city lacks capital for this project because the number of infrastructure projects being implemented in the city are stretching its finances, said Bui Xuan Cuong, deputy director of the city's Department of Transport.

Duong Quang Chau, deputy investment director of HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC, said the project included four sections.

In its first phase, it would upgrade the Binh Trieu 1 and 2 bridges. In the second, it would expand the highway section from the bridges to the Binh Phuoc intersection; construct a five-street intersection at the beginning of the highway; and expand the Nguyen Xi and Ung Van Khiem streets.

But the last three sections can be completed only if the Binh Thanh and Thu Duc districts finished site clearance work, for which they needed VND5 trillion (US$256 million) from the city budget. The city has allocated the two districts just VND500 million ($26,000) each for the 2010 financial year.

Meanwhile, the highway has become much more crowded since many vehicles are transporting materials to feed industrial park and processing zone construction in Binh Duong.

Dinh Nam Dinh, deputy chairman of the HCM City Cargo Transport Association, said many transport companies were hit hard by the congestion. "A vehicle used to make two trips from HCM City to Binh Duong and back each day, but now it takes three days to do this," he said.

Dang Duc Tiep, director of the Dang Tien Transport Company, said transport companies were suffering losses because cargo owners were levying fines for late delivery. The losses are huge when cargo from Binh Duong to HCM City is too late for marine shipment and we have to ship them by air, he said.

Cuong said capital for this project should be prioritised. The Department of Transport has so far attempted to reduce congestion on the highway by breaking up traffic in several directions, but such measures have not been sufficient to ease the problem. — VNS

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Singapore firm set to ease north’s logistics woes

An artist's impression of Mapletree Bac Ninh Logistics Park

Photo: Photo courtesy of Mapletree

The Singapore-based Mapletree Investment will break ground for northern Vietnam's largest logistics center next week to serve the increasing needs of international and domestic manufacturers who are setting up bases there.

The $70 million center will be located at the Vietnam-Singapore Township and Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province, 18 kilometers northeast of Hanoi.

The 55-hectare park will have bonded and non-bonded warehouse facilities and an inland container depot. When completed, it will have 280,000 square meters of modern logistics space.

Its construction begins at a time when many foreign investors like Canon, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Foxconn, Compal, and Piaggio, who have manufacturing factories in northern Vietnam, are facing a shortage of logistics facilities.

"There are several logistics sites developed in Bac Ninh and neighboring provinces, but all are small," Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper quoted Vu Duc Quyet, director of the Bac Ninh Industrial Parks Management Authority, as saying.

With more and more manufacturers setting up shop in the region, the existing logistics facilities are overstretched, he said.

Korea's Samsung Electronics, which has a $670 million mobile phone manufacturing plant in Bac Ninh, recently sought permission to build its own logistics site.

Mapletree's site is close to major roads like National Highways 1A and 18 and the Hanoi-Hai Phong Highway, and near the border with China.

"Manufacturers can easily transport their cargo from the center to the capital, Noi Bai International Airport [in Hanoi], and ports in Hai Phong," Quyet added.

This is Mapletree's first project in the northern region and third in Vietnam after the 68-hectare, $110 million Mapletree Binh Duong Logistics Park and Mapletree Business City @ Binh Duong in Binh Duong Province near Ho Chi Minh City.

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Ceramics festival helps build brands

Visitors view this record-breaking ceramic bowl called “Van Lang” made by Minh Long Co with gold plating - Photo: Hoai Nam

HCMC – Binh Duong Province’s Ceramics Festival that ended on Wednesday set nine new national records for ceramics and helped build brand names and development strategies for the industry.

According to organizers, about 50,000 people a day, mostly from Binh Duong and HCMC, visited the festival called “Vietnamese ceramics – a combination of traditions, texture and development”. A Vietnamese collection of antique ceramics broke one of the nine records set at the expo.

For the first time under one roof, visitors saw ceramics made by artisans across the country and could view the history of their development.

The festival was a first for Vietnam and Binh Duong which has contributed 70% of ceramics exports in recent years. The festival assembled 19 handicraft villages and more than 50 ceramics manufacturers across the country.

Experts and manufacturers at a conference held by the Binh Duong Ceramics Association shared about brand building and market strategy for local ceramics, Tuoi Tre reported.

Vietnamese ceramics have been competing with products from countries including India, Mexico and especially China in import markets such as the U.S. and Europe as well as locally. Hence, having a brand name and a marketing strategy for both export and local markets is vital. Many pottery villages needed to update to more modern technology, the conference heard.

The exhibition was also useful for manufacturers to listen to customers’ feedback.

Some Vietnamese ceramics such as Minh Long ceramics and earthenware and porcelain products from Bat Trang and Bau Truc have already developed a reputation in importing countries.

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Binh Duong sees significant growth in property market

HCM CITY — Southern Binh Duong Province is experiencing a rapid economic growth along with a surge in activity in the residential property segment.

Between April and July, the province, which is near HCM City, saw four new residential projects enter the market for sale, with a total of 555 units including apartments, villas/ townhouses and land plots.

Currently, there are 20 projects with around 7,600 units in the primary market and 30 projects with around 10,600 units in the secondary market, comprising apartments for sale, villas/ townhouses and land plots, according to property-service firm Savills Viet Nam.

In addition, the 11-ha Eco Xuan, which broke ground in August by Malaysian company Setia Lai Thieu, will have a total of 1,500 apartments and houses, apart from other facilities over five years.

Di An District has the largest market share, with 46 per cent of the total primary market, and Ben Cat District, at 19 per cent, is ranked second.

In the primary market in July, the average price of apartments was US$654 per square metre.

The villa and townhouse sector achieved approximately $200,000 per unit and land lots about $359 per square metre.

The secondary price for the land-lot sector, however, has fallen approximately 16 per cent to $173 per square metre.

In the next few years, about 15 residential projects with about 5,800 units are expected to be launched.

Future supply continues to be concentrated in Di An and Thu Dau Mot districts, accounting for around 70 per cent of market share, due to the advantage of infrastructure and proximity to HCM City and the planned Binh Duong New City.

The supply of future apartment projects accounted for the highest market share, with 86 per cent of the total future supply.

Binh Duong Province's population has grown to 1.5 million, half of whom have migrated from other parts of the country. The figure has almost doubled from what it was in 2000.

The population growth rate is nearly double HCM City's population growth rate, which has been 3.5 per cent per year recently. — VNS

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Southern localities seek new ways to attract more Japan’s capital

President of the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentary Group Ho Duc
Viet told three southern localities to improve administrative
procedures, site clearance and capital disbursement to make a
breakthrough in attracting Japan ’s FDI and ODA capital.

Viet, who is also Politburo member and Secretary of the Party Central
Committee, made the statement at a working session with the authorities
of Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh
Duong in HCM City on August 30.

He highlighted
Japanese businesses’ capital and technology strength, fast
implementation of their projects and good compliance with Vietnam ’s
laws, thus making considerable contributions to local socio-economic
development.

HCM City is the country’s leading
locality in attracting Japan ’s FDI and ODA capital. By August 2010,
the city had 398 Japanese-invested projects worth over 2 billion USD.
There are four traffic and environment projects that are being carried
out in the city using Japan ’s ODA. They include the East West
Avenue project, the Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien railway project and two water
environment improvement projects.

Binh Duong now has
153 Japanese-invested projects totalling more than 1.2 billion USD and
four ODA projects while Dong Nai has 90 projects worth more than 1.7
billion USD in total and one ODA project.

The three
city and provinces are calling for Japan’s ODA capital for four
infrastructure development projects in HCM City, two water environment
improvement projects in Binh Duong province and three projects in Dong
Nai./.

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Vietnam’s bamboo honoured throughout the world

The Phu An Bamboo Village – a bamboo ecological reserve which is
considered the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia – has been
announced as one of 25 winners of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) Equator Prize 2010.

“This is the first time a
project on Vietnam’s bamboo has been honoured in the world,” Tuoi Tre
(Youth) newspaper quoted Dr Diep Thi My Hanh, who chairs the project on
“Phu An Bamboo Ecological Museum and Botanical Reserve” in the southern
province of Binh Duong, as saying on August 24.

The Phu An Bamboo
Village is a cooperation project between Binh Duong province and Ho
Chi Minh City National University , France ’s Rhone Alpes Region and
Pilat Natural Park of France. It has an initial investment of nearly 675
million EUR.

Six years after implementation, the ecological
reserve in Binh Duong province has a collection of about 130 species of
bamboo belonging to 17 varieties. Among them are rare and precious
varieties of each region in the country such as ivory bamboo and
yellow-striped bamboo.

The 10ha reserve also includes a
museum made from bamboo displaying equipment, instruments and works made
from bamboo materials such as music instruments, and a research area
for scientists and students who want to learn about bamboo and growing
and developing this tropical tree.

The Phu An Bamboo Village is
likely to turn into Asia’s bamboo reserve, said Dr. Gabriel de Taffin,
regional director of the French Agricultural Research Centre for
International Development (CIRAD) in Southeast Asia .

According
to Hanh, bamboo grows fast, is used for different purposes, and is
particularly useful in absorbing carbon dioxide and fighting climate
change.

Apart from protecting the biodiversity of bamboo, the Phu
An Bamboo Village is a centre for research and technological transfer
on the applications of bamboo in life and environmental protection, Hanh
said.

Dr. Hanh now researches the applications of bamboo in
absorbing heavy metal present in soil, bamboo fibre in replacing
composite material, and cellulose from bamboo as water-resistant
material, and production of biological clothes or nylon bags.

The
Equator Prize is an award for initiatives in natural resource
conservation that meets the goal of poverty reduction, community
development, gender equality, focusing on women, environmental
protection, and serving sustainable development.

Equator Prize
2010 winners will be celebrated at a high level event at the American
Museum of Natural History on September 20, 2010. Representatives from
winning communities will also participate in the Community Summit
dialogue space, to be held in conjunction with the United Nations
General Assembly in New York./.

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