Tuesday’s conference to discuss city’s economic restructuring

HCMC – The impacts of Vietnam’s joining WTO and HCMC’s economic restructuring for the next five years are due to be discussed by economic experts at a conference on Tuesday. 

The “Assessments of the Impacts of Vietnam’s WTO Accession and HCMC Economic Restructuring” conference will delve into issues involving the city’s economic and social development, and proposed appropriate shifts in the economic structure to ensure continued growth.

The roles of government, business and market will also be defined to facilitate the development process.  

The conference is organized by the HCMC Institute for Development Studies, and HCMC WTO Affairs Consultation Center (HCC-WTO), and supported by Beyond WTO Program under a project financed by the Australian Aid Program (AusAID) and UK Department for International Development (DFID).  

The conference takes place at a time when the country is working toward an economic restructuring strategy for the next 10 years and an economic development plan for the next five years.

In addition to Vietnam’s Social Economic Development Strategy (2011 - 2020) and Socio-Economic Development Plan (2011 - 2015), the Ministry of Planning and Investment has drafted a project to boost the country’s economic restructuring to enhance its productivity and competitiveness.

There is a need to make clear Vietnam’s arguments on facts and theories about national economic restructuring, according to a statement of HCMC.  

In the city, a program with different components is being implemented to support the city’s economic restructuring in the five years ending 2010. The city is shifting its economy towards services, industry and agriculture.  

Tu Minh Thien, director of the Investment and Trade Promotion Center of HCMC, said at a recent meeting that the city was focusing on industries such as IT, electronics, mechanical engineering and food processing.

But there is a paradox that labor-intensive industries, including garment and textiles, are making big contributions to the city’s GDP, instead of the key sectors, he said.

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Bond backing sought for HCMC-Dong Nai connecting road

HCMC – The Ministry of Planning and Investment is seeking Government bonds funding for a road construction project linking HCMC’s District 9 with Dong Nai Province’s Nhon Trach District during the 2011-2015 period.

The ministry in a report to the Government said the 2.2 km road costing VND8 trillion would play an important role in regional transport.

The Ministry of Transport is the investor of the project while HCMC and Dong Nai Province authorities would take charge of site clearance and compensation. The transport ministry also suggested calling for investment in a river bridge, as part of the road project, under BOT (build-operate-transfer) form.

The connecting road is part of the Government’s plan to expand Nhon Trach new urban area from 6,000 to 11,000 hectares to become a key industrial, commercial and service center in the southern region. The plan also includes road and bridge projects such as HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay, Bien Hoa-Ba Ria-Vung Tau expressways and the connecting road.

In addition, the ministries have suggested Dong Nai Province’s government to complete investment procedures for an inter-port road project with the total investment of VND2.25 trillion. The province will also suggest the project be funded by government bonds for the 2011-2015 period.

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Office and villa projects half-done

Sacomreal’s office building under construction on Pho Duc Chinh Street in HCMC - Photo: Hong Duyen

HCMC - Two property developers have announced the completion of the first phase of an office building project in HCMC and a villa project in the central coast city of Danang.

VinaLiving, a housing brand of VinaCapital Real Estate, says it has finished phase one of the Ocean Villas at Danang Beach Resort, and handed over the first 30 villas to owners.

The Ocean Villas comprises a beachfront residential component with 115 luxury beach villas as part of VinaCapital’s 260-hectare complex near the newly opened The Dunes Golf Course.

The developer says almost 80% of the phase-one villas were booked by buyers shortly after the two soft launch events held last year – one in Hanoi and one in HCMC.

In another project, Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate JSC (Sacomreal) and its partner Ganeralimex Company last week held a topping-out ceremony for their  office building on Pho Duc Chinh Street in downtown HCMC.

The VND73 billion project is being developed on a 3,850-square-meter site with 10 floors for offices. It is scheduled for completion late this year.

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Office and villa projects half-done

Sacomreal’s office building under construction on Pho Duc Chinh Street in HCMC - Photo: Hong Duyen

HCMC - Two property developers have announced the completion of the first phase of an office building project in HCMC and a villa project in the central coast city of Danang.

VinaLiving, a housing brand of VinaCapital Real Estate, says it has finished phase one of the Ocean Villas at Danang Beach Resort, and handed over the first 30 villas to owners.

The Ocean Villas comprises a beachfront residential component with 115 luxury beach villas as part of VinaCapital’s 260-hectare complex near the newly opened The Dunes Golf Course.

The developer says almost 80% of the phase-one villas were booked by buyers shortly after the two soft launch events held last year – one in Hanoi and one in HCMC.

In another project, Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate JSC (Sacomreal) and its partner Ganeralimex Company last week held a topping-out ceremony for their  office building on Pho Duc Chinh Street in downtown HCMC.

The VND73 billion project is being developed on a 3,850-square-meter site with 10 floors for offices. It is scheduled for completion late this year.

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Land reserve will help douse property fevers: experts

HANOI – Experts and officials at a seminar on urban development in Hanoi on Saturday called for a new approach to urbanization management in the capital city by increasing land reserves to choke off property fevers there.

Pham Sy Liem, director of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute, remarked that land fevers often took place soon after any urban planning schemes were announced. Recent fevers in new urban areas of Duong Noi, An Khanh, and even in the farming area of Ba Vi indicated that current urban land management has failed, he said.

“Therefore, to fight land manipulators and to make the most from land for development, urban administrators need to build up land reserves right at the time they make any urban planning scheme,” Liem told the seminar.

He asserted that land reserves would provide a strong vehicle for the urban administrator to manage the property market in urban areas, adding “it is high time the country formulate a complete institutional mechanism on land reserves.”

The new mechanism, according to Liem, will help prevent the situation of land prices being chased up year after year while people affected by development projects are still unhappy with the rising compensations.

Duong Duc Tuan, deputy director of Hanoi City’s Department of Planning and Architecture, agreed to Liem’s viewpoint, saying land reserves were the basic resource for urban development in the capital city.

Those areas with ample land reserves would have better conditions for infrastructure development, especially for projects under the forms of Build-Transfer and Build-Operate-Transfer forms, he said.

Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, stressed the need to improve land management to avoid corruption in the sector.

“We must look for strong methods to manage land under planning schemes, otherwise some people will gain hefty profits from land manipulation while others will suffer when their land is revoked for development projects,” Vo said.

He added that urban land must be seen as capital resources, so a right approach to urban planning would be the decisive factor to determine urban development.

Liem of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute said that the development of land reserves would also help collect most benefits from land for the State budget.

Under the master plan on urban development between now and 2025 with a vision to 2050 that was approved by the Prime Minister last year, there should have some 910 urban towns and cities in the country by 2020. The population in cities should reach 44 million, or 45% of the country’s population by then.

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More incentives for cable undergrounding projects

A worker removes telecom cables from what looks much like a cobweb in downtown HCMC - Photo: Kinh Luan

HCMC – The HCMC government will offer more incentives for investors involved in projects to underground overhead power and telecom cables as some pilot projects will be completed in the middle of next month.

City vice chairman Nguyen Trung Tin on Monday threw support behind a proposal by the HCMC Power Corporation to invite more investors to participate in power and telecom cable undergrounding projects in the downtown area to restore the cityscape.

Such projects require huge amounts of capital. According to the corporation, the city will need up to VND3.36 trillion to build ditches for nine kilometers of high-tension cable lines, 300 kilometers of medium-tension lines, and 400 kilometers of low-tension lines in the city center between now and 2015.

In the following five years, the city will have to spend another VND383 billion expanding the plan to outlying districts.

Vice chairman Tin said the city would provide concenssional loans for investors to participate in the plan.

The city will finish work on September 15 on the pilot projects that are ongoing along a 1.3-km stretch of Tran Hung Dao Street in districts 1 and 5, Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1 and six streets in District 3, and in Ben Thanh Market area in District 1, among others.

The cityscape has long been marred by the intricate overhead power and telecom lines. There are around 20 telecom entities using the power transmission lines for their cable systems.

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More incentives for cable undergrounding projects

A worker removes telecom cables from what looks much like a cobweb in downtown HCMC - Photo: Kinh Luan

HCMC – The HCMC government will offer more incentives for investors involved in projects to underground overhead power and telecom cables as some pilot projects will be completed in the middle of next month.

City vice chairman Nguyen Trung Tin on Monday threw support behind a proposal by the HCMC Power Corporation to invite more investors to participate in power and telecom cable undergrounding projects in the downtown area to restore the cityscape.

Such projects require huge amounts of capital. According to the corporation, the city will need up to VND3.36 trillion to build ditches for nine kilometers of high-tension cable lines, 300 kilometers of medium-tension lines, and 400 kilometers of low-tension lines in the city center between now and 2015.

In the following five years, the city will have to spend another VND383 billion expanding the plan to outlying districts.

Vice chairman Tin said the city would provide concenssional loans for investors to participate in the plan.

The city will finish work on September 15 on the pilot projects that are ongoing along a 1.3-km stretch of Tran Hung Dao Street in districts 1 and 5, Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1 and six streets in District 3, and in Ben Thanh Market area in District 1, among others.

The cityscape has long been marred by the intricate overhead power and telecom lines. There are around 20 telecom entities using the power transmission lines for their cable systems.

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