Residents in the central province of Quang Ngai have decried the delays that have plagued mega projects for several years.

Two of them, the Taiwanese-invested Guang Lian Steel Plant Project and the locally-owned Vina Universal Film Studio Project, with a combined investment of over US$4.5 billion, were expected to pave the way for socio-economic development of the province, but have in fact left Quang Ngai residents miserable.

The steel plant was licensed in 2007 with an initial registered investment of $3.3 billion that was later expanded to $4.5 billion. After two groundbreaking ceremonies, the 480 ha of land allotted to it in the Dung Quat Industrial Park remains unused.

The land is in a stretch of road linking Dung Quat Port with National Highway 1A and was blocked by the company. As a result, residents travelling from National Highway 1A in Doc Soi to Dung Quat Port have to take a roundabout route that increases their travel cost by 18 per cent.

The long delays to the project have left 50 families in Tan Hy Hamlet, Binh Dong Commune, in limbo for the last five years – they have neither been moved to new residential areas nor have land for agricultural production.

Le Van Dung, deputy head of the Dung Quat IP, said the Guang Lian Steel Plant was delayed due to financial issues.

“The investor has raised the capacity of the plant from 5 million to 7 million tonnes a year and the investment from $3.3 billion to $4.5 billion, and has sought loans from Chinese banks. But an agreement for the loans has not been reached yet.”

Vo Van Thuong, secretary of the Quang Ngai Party Committee, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper: “We have asked the investors to prove their financial capacity and specify the construction timeframe. If they cannot satisfy our request, their licence will be revoked.”

Meanwhile, residents of Dien Truong Hamlet in Duc Pho District have led a miserable existence after the proposed Vina Universal Film Studio project took away their employment opportunities.

The HCM City-based Tan Tao group never began construction of the $50 million film studio on the 2,500 ha of land it got after a grand ground-breaking ceremony nearly five years ago.

Nguyen Thanh Tin, a resident of Pho Khanh Commune, said local farmers did not dare grow rice on the land because it could be taken by the investors at any time.

They are not allowed to build houses on their land and do not dare spend any money on renovations, he said.

However, in early 2011, Tan Tao announced suspension of the project.

Tran Em, deputy chairman of Duc Pho District People’s Committee, said the project now awaits other investors.

According to Quang Ngai authorities who did a comprehensive inspection of 157 investment projects, 79 have been completed and the rest have either been delayed or suspended.

In the last decade the province has cancelled the licences of 87 projects.

Birds take over in Binh Duong

Hundreds of houses – built up to the foundation – remain unsold in the southern province of Binh Duong despite promotions while many luxury villas have been renovated to allow swallows to build nests, underlining the slump in the real estate market.

Swallow breeding flourishes in many residential areas in Binh Duong after the Dai Nam Tourism Park in Thu Dau Mot town made a success of it three years ago.

Many owners of new luxury villas in the Vinh Phu residential area in Thuan An town have bored holes in walls to allow swallows to build nests.

Phan Van Be, a local resident, said the sound made by machines to attract swallows in neighbouring villas gave him a headache.

“Regardless of the profits the business could bring, the image of destroyed walls is ugly while the sound of the equipment makes local residents uneasy,” he said.

A home in residential areas in Binh Duong is currently priced at VND1.5 to VND2 million per square metre, and despite the VND80 million foundation being offered free, there are few takers.

Nguyen Danh Thang, a Thu Dau Mot resident who is looking to buy a house, said buyers in residential areas had to comply with architectural and size requirements.

“One can buy a foundation for VND300 million but may not have four times that amount required to build a house as specified,” he said.

According to a report by the Binh Duong Construction Department, demand for housing is far below supply, resulting in the property market slump, especially residential.

Binh Duong has 220 residential projects on 8,552 ha, 51 of them with complete infrastructure. Developers are building infrastructure in 94 others, and completing formalities for site clearance at 75 others.

The province has revoked the licences of 38 residential projects due to delays caused by developers’ lack of finance.

Carlsberg thinks big

With its recent purchase of the local partner’s 50 per cent stake in the Hue Brewery joint stock company to become the 100 per cent owner, Danish beer giant Carlsberg has taken another step towards its ambition of becoming the biggest brewery group in the Indo-china region.

The VND1.88 trillion (US$93 million) deal was mainly for the Huda Hue brand name.

Hue Brewery, with an annual output of 200 million litres, has an 8 per cent share of the Viet Nam beer market and is one of the top four brewers in the country along with Sai Gon Brewery Co. (Sabeco), Ha Noi Alcohol and Brewery Corp. (Habeco), and Viet Nam Beer.

The company hopes to expand its market share to 15 per cent by 2015, general director Nguyen Mau Chi said, adding Carlsberg is committed to increasing the capacity to 350 million litres by 2015.

According to figures from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, beer consumption in Viet Nam has been rising since 2003 – from 1.29 billion litres to 2.5 billion litres last year. The figure is expected to go up to 4 billion litres in 2015.

The Viet Nam Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Association expects average beer consumption in the country to increase from 18 litres per person per year in 2008 to 30 litres next year.

VNS