Ho Chi Minh City has been ranked fifth as Asia Pacific investors’ most preferred market for investments by CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE’s Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey 2021 was conducted between November 9 and December 14 last year. As many as 492 mainly Asia Pacific-based investors participated in the survey, which asked respondents a range of questions regarding their buying appetite and preferred strategies, sectors and markets for 2021.

“Ho Chi Minh City has already been on the radar of investors in recent years, especially those who are looking to invest in Southeast Asia, as the city is viewed as having the potential for greater appreciation in property values and higher yields,” said Desmond Sim, Head of Research, Southeast Asia, CBRE.

“Other noteworthy movement in this year’s rankings included Ho Chi Minh City, which entered the top five for the first time. With the diversification of supply chains encouraging more manufacturing investment, industrial and logistics assets are keenly sought after,” according to the survey.

Tokyo retained its top position as the most preferred city for cross-border investment. The availability of high-quality assets and strong liquidity has made Tokyo a top-three investment destination since 2018.

It was followed by Singapore, Seoul of the Republic of Korea and Shanghai of China./.

SSC sets out measures to stock market overload issue

The State Securities Commission of Viet Nam (SSC) has ordered the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) and securities firms to apply short-term, mid-term and long-term solutions for overload orders which forced the exchange to halt trading since the end of last year.

Since December 21, 2020, there have been cases of some orders from investors via securities firms that were not sent to the southern bourse, said the SSC.

The issue is a result of the transaction processing capacity of HoSE that limits the number of transactions per day, while transaction demands surged recently.

To ensure the system operates smoothly and addresses the overload issue, in the short-term, the SSC requested related agencies to optimise the transaction process by increasing the trading lot from 10 to 100 shares per lot, starting from January 4, 2021.

The SSC also urged HoSE and securities firms to inspect and prevent internal errors, and limit automatic transactions.

For the mid-term, the SSC ordered HoSE to upgrade the transaction backup system to ensure the system operates smoothly until the new IT system for the stock market with support from the Korea Exchange (KRX) is officially launched.

In the long-term, the HoSE and related agencies have to accelerate the process to bring the KRX system into operation to completely solve the overloaded orders problem.

Viet Nam’s stock market posted good performance in the final months of last year on the back of surging orders.

The VN-Index ended the last trading day of 2020 at 1,103.87 points, rising nearly 15 per cent compared to the beginning of the year.

According to SSC, the increase in the number of investors and orders was driven by the fact that Viet Nam has controlled the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting the country's macro economy.

Viet Nam was among countries that delivered positive economic growth of 2.91 per cent in 2020, and was expected to recover at 6.5 – 6.8 per cent in 2021.

Government agencies also carried out many policies to support the market during the pandemic, such as the Circular No 14/2020/TT-BTC to reduce fees of some services in the securities sector, and Circular No 112/2020/TT-BTC on regulating collection rates of fees or charges to support and address difficulties in production, business activities and to ensure social security in response to COVID-19.

The reduction in fees and supportive policies brought new cash flows into the stock market which helped the liquidity rise to a record level. Data from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed the amount of capital poured into Viet Nam’s stock market rose 20 per cent in 2020 to VND383.6 trillion.

In 2020, the average value of market transactions was over VND7.05 trillion per session, double that of 2019, data showed. Meanwhile, the number of new investors soared by 109 per cent in 2020 against the previous year.

Central city to introduce tourism property project

Property developer PGT has inked a co-operation and operation agreement with InterContinetal Hotels Group (IHG) PLC, Ong&Ong Singapore, VLand and Savills Viet Nam to develop a beachfront luxury apartment and hotel complex this year in Da Nang.

The complex on the pristine beach of My Khe in Son Tra peninsular will be managed and distributed by Savills Viet Nam and V.Land.

Following the agreement, the firm and partners will introduce the five-star Crowne Plaza Da Nang waterfront hotel and The 6nature Danang Apartment in the first quarter of 2021.

The 40-storey coastal two-block complex, built with an investment of US$88.5 million by PGT, will be designed by Singaporean Ong&Ong company to supply luxurious apartment and hotel rooms.

Chairman of PGT Group Le Anh Trieu said the complex would be an attractive landmark for tourists and residential demand on the beach of Da Nang and Son Tra Nature Reserve.

Da Nang is a top destination for foreign investment and an increasingly popular tourist hub in central Viet Nam.

The city has so far developed 16 tourist property projects consisting of 749 villas, of which 609 are for sale and 140 for lease.

According to the city’s planning and investment department, more five key tourism property projects will be developed in 2021.

Privatisation plan missed, pressure to improve SOEs efficiency

The privatisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) failed to meet the plan set for the 2016-20 period, causing pressure to improve the operational efficiency of SOEs in the next five-year period.

According to a recent report by the Ministry of Finance, a total of 178 SOEs had privatisation plans approved in the 2016-20 period, with a total asset value of more than VNĐ443.5 trillion.

Among them, only 37 were on the Government’s list of 128 must-be-privatised SOEs, meeting just 28 per cent of the target.

This means that 91 SOEs failed to complete the privatisation plan. Among them, 13 were under the management of Hà Nội People’s Committee, 38 under HCM City, six under the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises and four under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

According to the ministry’s Corporate Finance Department, the bottleneck was due to problems in verifying land assets.

Việt Nam embarked on the SOE restructuring process from the 1990s. In the first 10 years, 577 SOEs were privatised. In 2001-05, 2,735 SOEs were privatised, another 646 in 2006-2010 and 508 in 2011-15.

In 2020, only one SOE was privatised, the lowest figure over the past three decades.

According to Nguyễn Hồng Long, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Enterprise Innovation and Development, the disappointing privatisation results in 2016-20 created significant pressure for the next period in restructuring and improving SOE efficiency.

Long said with the issuance of new regulations about privatisation towards improving transparency and ensuring the maximum benefits for the State, many SOEs must spend time reviewing their privatisation plan, which takes more time.

In the 2016-20 period, many SOEs had large scale operations with complicated financial situations and land ownership, thus privatisation, especially in evaluating their assets, was not easy, Long said.

Long stressed that privatisation was not the final target. “The final target was to restructure SOEs and improve their operational efficiency through diversifying ownership which would help renovate operations and governance models.

“Privatisation needs to be hastened in the next decade,” Long said, adding that privatisation remained the most effective solution to improve the efficiency of SOEs and the economy.

Deputy Minister of Finance Huỳnh Quang Hải said that it was necessary to continue reviewing the existing regulations to raise solutions to tackle problems and bottlenecks which were hindering the privatisation proccess. At the same, accountability must be increased, he added.

Demand for furniture rises ahead of Tet

With Tet approaching, more and more people in HCM City are shopping for furniture for home or for use at parties.

Many are buying furniture either to move into new homes at housing projects completed late last year or to renovate their homes for Tet.

In District 10’s Ngo Gia Tu Street and Tan Binh District’s Truong Chinh Street, which are filled with furniture shops, the number of shoppers has not reduced since last year.

Shops said due to the impact of COVID-19, customers are seeking items at reasonable prices.

Many are offering promotions.

Nha Xinh Furniture supermarket chain has discounts of 15-25 per cent on sofas, beds, TV shelves, wardrobes, and others.

Dong A is offering a 50 per cent discount on sofas, free shipping and lifetime warranty.

Duong Thanh Dao, marketing director of Qui Phuc Production, Commerce and Service Co. Ltd, said a few months ago his company bought more machinery to increase production since it realised demand would spike before Tet.

In addition to working on new designs for Tet, the company has also expanded its storage and logistics capacity to better serve its customers, he added. 

Ha Noi to focus on promoting trade, industry

Ha Noi will focus on promoting trade and industry in the 2021-25 period to make trade a high-added-value sector and develop Ha Noi into the international trade centre of Viet Nam.

Accordingly, Ha Noi would encourage investment in developing modern retail systems, such as shopping centres and supermarkets.

Under the capital city’s industry and trade development plan to 2025, Ha Noi will develop five more wholesale centres and ten shopping centres at the regional level, 12 logistics centres, 68 shopping centres, 850 supermarkets and 140 markets.

Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, said attracting private investment in developing infrastructure for trade remained difficult, especially in local and wholesale markets.

In addition, policies to manage modern trade models had not been promptly issued while modern commerce models were developing very rapidly.

Regarding industry, most large-scale production facilities had been moved out of the city centre, meaning that industrial production was narrowed.

Attracting investment in industrial zones and clusters was not comparative in terms of higher land lease prices than neighbouring provinces like Ha Nam, Hung Yen and Bac Ninh.

Lan said that according to the Resolution of the 17th Ha Noi Party Congress, the industry’s structure in the capital city would change significantly, with construction and industry accounting for 22.5-23 per cent, services by 65-65.5 per cent and agriculture accounting for a very modest proportion. This would have significant impact on the city’s industry and trade sector, Lan said.

Ha Noi expects industry to grow at an average rate of 7.5-8 per cent in the 2021-25 period, exports at 9.5-9.7 per cent, and retail sales of goods and services at 9-10 per cent.

To achieve the targets, the capital city would focus on removing difficultis for enterprises, especially those operating in spearhead and part-supplying industries and promoting the development of hi-tech and high-added value products, taking advantage of Industry 4.0.

In addition, the municipal authority would alo proactively call for investment in industrial infrastructure system and from high-tech enterprises. The city would also speed up the construction of 43 industrial clusters which were approved in 2018-20.

Industrial production increasingly contributes to the overall growth of the city’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP), making up 1.02 percentage points of the 7.16 GRDP growth rate in 2016 to 1.42 percentage points to the 7.63 GRDP growth rate in 2019.

In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial production grew at 4.91 per cent, contributing 0.69 percentage points to the city’s 3.98 GRDP growth rate.

On average, industrial production increased by 8.3 per cent in the 2016-20 period.

Ha Noi also always took the lead in the country in ICT revenue with around 6,000 ICT companies and two out of five IT zones nationwide.

There were 17 in-operation industrial zones and hi-tech zones, 70 industrial clusters and 43 newly-founded industrial clusters.

The total retail sale of goods and services increased by an average of 10.54 per cent per year in the 2016-20 period while export revenue grew at 8.8 per cent, 1.68 per cent higher than the average in 2011-15.

There were 28 shopping centres, 142 supermarkets, 1,840 convenience store, 445 markets and 494 petrol stations in the city. 

Public investment to focus on key projects to create impetus for economic growth

Public investment will focus on key national projects with important roles in enhancing regional links and creating new drivers and room for economic growth, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung has said.

Last year saw the highest public investment disbursement rate in 2016-20 as the Government identified public investment as a major driver for growth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment estimated the public investment disbursement rate would reach more than 90 per cent of the plan as of the end January 31 (the deadline for disbursement of 2020 public investment), compared to 73.3 per cent of 2017, 66.8 per cent of 2018 and 67.46 per cent of 2019.

There were 17 ministries, central-level agencies and 17 localities with disbursement rates of more than 80 per cent as of December 31, 2020. However, 13 ministries and central-level agencies and five localities had disbursement rates below 60 per cent.

According to Nguyen Manh Quyen, Deputy Chairman of Ha Noi People’s Committee, the capital city disbursed about VND40.7 trillion worth of public investment or 93 per cent of the plan.

HCM City disbursed VND31.5 trillion of public investment in 2020, 1.7 times higher than 2019, Le Thi Huynh Mai, Director of the municipal Department of Planning and Investment, said.

These figures showed that never before was public investment disbursement as quick and strong as in 2020, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong.

“It is public investment that drove GDP growth in 2020,” he said.

Phuong pointed out that total social investment accounted for 34 per cent of GDP and public investment 25 per cent of the total social investment, meaning public investment made up about 6-7 per cent of GDP.

“Taking into account the impacts of public investment, public investment plays a really important role in growth,” Phuong said.

Despite this progress, speeding up the disbursement of public investment remains a priority in 2021.

Phuong said that the Law on Public Investment No 39/2019/QH14 which took effect from the beginning of this year would help tighten management of the entire process of public investment. In addition, the decentralisation of management would also be enhanced together with increasing accountabilities for higher efficiency of public investment.

With the new regulations, plans for public investment would also be more accurate and practical, Phuong said.

Sums which were failed to be disbursed would be deducted from the medium-term public investment plan, Phuong said.

There were always differences between plans and real implementation but “don’t let the gap be too big,” Phuong said.

In 2021, the ministry will regularly update about the progress of public investment disbursement to give a timely push to the progress, he added. 

Hanoi strives to disburse 93 percent of public investment by Jan. 31

The capital city of Hanoi is exerting all-out efforts to disburse 93 percent of 2020 public investment by the end of this month, making it to the top performers in the nation, heard at a meeting on January 20.

The meeting between Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Ha Minh Hai and leaders of the Hanoi State Treasury was about the agency’s collection and spending of State budget in 2021.

To achieve the goal, Hai requested concerned authorities to focus more on public investment disbursement. The municipal State Treasury must better coordinate with other sectors to promptly address problems in order to accelerate the disbursement progress, he said, adding that it should also effectively promote public administrative reforms and make use of information technology to cut procedures businesses and organisations are required to fulfill.

Regarding tasks for this year, the vice mayor asked the agency to be among pioneers in digital transformation, public administrative reforms and e-Government building.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Director of the municipal State Treasury, said the city has so far disbursed 75 percent of its infrastructure construction and public investment, higher than that of the same period last year.

The agency has established a hotline to tackle related issues and been coordinating with the municipal Department of Planning and Investment to publicise data on local public investment disbursement.

On this occasion, Deputy Minister of Finance Vu Thi Mai presented the third-class Independence Order of the State President to the Hanoi State Treasury in recognition of its exceptional achievements in their missions, contributing to building socialism and protecting the country./.

Vietnam, Canada need to take advantage of CPTPP

Vietnam and Canada should utilise the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), to which both are signatories, and other free trade agreements (FTAs) to better facilitate bilateral trade and investment ties, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong has said.

Despite the serious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam-Canada relations continued to flourish in 2020, with two-way trade enjoying a year-on-year rise of 11.2 percent, Phong told the “Developing the Vietnam-Canada Business Partnership” webinar held jointly by the Vietnamese Embassy, the Government of Quebec, and the ASEAN-Canada Business Council on January 20.

He added that the pandemic is also a chance for the two countries to seek more innovative and effective measures to foster bilateral relations.

John F.G Hannaford, Deputy Minister of International Trade at Global Affairs Canada, said he admires Vietnam’s effective response to COVID-19 and affirmed the important role of international cooperation amid the pandemic.

Vietnam’s maintenance of an open supply chain for essential goods and services has supported uninterrupted trade flows between Canada and Southeast Asia, he said, stressing that Canada commits to intensifying its trade ties with Vietnam.

Canada sees big opportunities for cooperation in the fields of food processing, agriculture, education, information and communications technology, and infrastructure in Vietnam, and hopes to attract more investment from the country, he added.

Speaking at the webinar, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that Vietnam can be viewed as a “centre of FTAs”, with several major and important agreements signed recently, such as the CPTPP (representing 13 percent of global GDP), the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (16 percent of global GDP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) (32 percent of global GDP).

The country hopes to be a reliable destination and bridge connecting Canada and ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific, Hai said.

As of November 2020, Canada was 14th among countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 212 projects worth over 5.05 billion USD./.

Thousands of flights planned for Tet Holiday

Up to 1,200 flights will be operated daily during the Tet Holiday as travel demand surges.

Despite Covid-19, local airlines plan to operate about 1,000 flights a day, an increase of 28% compared to the previous Tet Holiday. The busiest days will have 1,200 flights, an increase of 25.3% on the previous Tet Holiday.

According to the Civil Administration of Vietnam, Tet flights will be the focus from January 27 to February 26. Because of Covid-19, the airlines will not operate usual international flights but pour resources into domestic flights.

Vietnam Airlines and Vasco will operate 379 flights a day and 504 flights on busy days, an increase of 35.5% and 31% respectively compared to the same period last year. Vietjet Air plans to operate 371 flights a day and 375 flights on busy days, an increase of 17% and 28% on last year.

Bamboo Airways reported that they will operate 180 flights a day, increased by 27.5% and 190 flights on busy days, increased by 34% on last year. Pacific Airlines will have an average of 124 flights a day and 130 flights a day during the peak of the holiday, an increase of 25% and 28% on last year.

The airlines also announced 140-150 night flights a day which operates from 10 pm to 7 am.

The Civil Administration of Vietnam advised passengers to buy tickets early via official channels, go to the airports two hours early and follow regulations including filling in the medical declaration forms and wearing face masks.

Ha Giang looks to boost tourism with digital transformation and smart services

The northern province of Ha Giang is looking to promote the local tourism industry through digital transformation and smart services in partnership with mobile carrier Mobifone and the National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). 

Under an agreement signed on January 20, Mobifone and VNAT will assist Ha Giang to use Mobifone’s Smart Travel system, and increase the promotion of tourism products and useful information to potential travellers.

For its part, Ha Giang will provide data about local destinations, scenic spots, historical sites, culture and food to be incorporated in the Smart Travel system.

The provincial authorities will also support the connection with local organisations and businesses to develop tourism through digital transformation.

The Smart Travel tool features advanced technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, big data and online shopping designed to meet the needs of tourists, businesses, service providers and regulators alike.

Through its data collection and analysis services, tourism authorities will be presented with an overview of their local tourism’s advantages and disadvantages so that they can introduce appropriate policies.

On the same day, VNAT also signed an agreement with Ha Giang to help the province create and develop tourism products, promote the brand of Ha Giang tourism and develop the workforce for tourism.

VNAT Director Nguyen Trung Khanh said the cooperation will open new opportunities to boost the tourism of Ha Giang and Vietnam at large in a more effective manner.

He added that digital transformation and smart travel development are the inevitable processes, especially as the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life.

For his part, Ha Giang Vice Chairman Tran Duc Quy said that the agreement signing is significant in that it will help the growth of the local tourism industry to be commensurate with its potential.

Housing prices more stable in Hanoi and HCM City in 2021

Land prices will maintain or just slightly increase in the two biggest cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City this year as supply improves according to the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS).

Speaking at a meeting held on January 11 to announce the report on the real estate market in 2020, Nguyen Van Dinh, vice chairman of Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), said 2020 saw a big transition in investment to the real estate market, driving up demand.

"This has made the land market hot with soaring prices, especially in some outlying rural districts which are seeing fast urbanisation including Thach That, Hoai Duc, and Dong Anh," Dinh said. "Some areas in these districts saw land prices increasing by 50% against the prices of 2019 to VND25-VND30 million (USD1,087-USD1,304) per square metre."

Explaining the sharp rise in land prices, Do Thu Hang, senior director of advisory services at Savills Hanoi said that instead of getting commissions from owners, many dealers are charging higher prices than set by owners.

"I know a man who paid VND1 billion (USD43,478) to a dealer to buy a land lot in Dong Anh District," Hang explained. "However, the price set by the owner was only VND650 million (USD28,260)."

The expert stressed that this is a common situation now which has inflated the land prices in Hanoi.

Higher supply but no price fall in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City this year

The Vietnam Association of Realtors's report estimates that housing prices in Hanoi will maintain or just slightly increase this year compared to 2020 as supplies improve.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to witness rising prices, mostly in the newly-established Thu Duc City, in the first six months of this year.

"The prices may be more stable in the final months due to higher supplies but there will be no fall," Dinh said.

"At well-invested urban areas in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, land and apartment prices will continue to rise by 5-10 per cent in 2021," he added.

Source: VNA/VNN/VNS/SGGP/VOV/NDO/Dtinews/SGT/VIR