Hong Kong group enters real estate joint venture

Ha Noi - LUKS Industrial Group of Hong Kong has decided to join Viet Nam-based Indochine Co Ltd on Monday to establish a real estate joint venture in Viet Nam .
Accordingly, LUKS will pour US$15 million into the joint venture that will focus on housing development. LUKS is one of the largest industrial groups listed on the Hong Kong stock market. The group has already invested in cement production and real estate projects in Viet Nam.

Investors gaze into the crystal ball

Want to know what foreign investors think of Vietnam's investment climate? More than 100 local and foreign bankers, investment fund managers and businesses who attended the Alternative Investments IQ Vietnam 2007 conference in Ho Chi Minh City last week helped provide some answers. Vietnam’s market return potentials is standing head and shoulders above the rest of the Asian pack. Kuwait Asia Holdings Private Equity Division senior manager Waleed Alowaiyesh was one of many of the conference attendees to offer a robust vision of Vietnam’s advantages over its investment rivals.

MANULIFE FINANCIAL EYES VIETNAM'S REAL ESTATE

President and General Director of the Manulife Financial Dominic D'Alessandro praised the potential of Vietnam's real estate market, revealing that this sector will be one of his group's prime areas in the near future. "The strong growth of Vietnam's economy and its real estate market was the reason for Manulife Financial, the world's fourth largest financial investment group, to make its decision," Dominic D' Alessandro told Lao Dong (Labour) daily. According to the group leader, Manulife Financial made its first move by opening its office in Phu My Hung urban area in Ho Chi Minh City and plans to expand to other cities and provinces.

HCM City’s land price up 1% each day

The real estate market in HCM City is changing because prices of land allocated for production projects in districts 2, 7, 9, Nha Be and Binh Chanh are climbing day by day. In the past week, the price for land in An Thinh project in District 2 increased from VND12 million ($750)/sq.m to VND15 million ($930)/sq.m. It was VND14.5 million ($900), an increase by VND4 million ($250) for land and houses in Riverside project in Thu Duc district and up to nearly VND35 million ($2,100)/sq.m in Indo-China project in District 3. In Nha Be district, the land price has risen by 2.5 times within the past one month, from VND80 million ($5,000)/1,000sq.m to VND200 million ($12,500)/1,000sq.m. Land prices in districts 2, 7 and 9 have also increased 10% during this time.

A long-term commitment to Vietnam

Besides, our company’s vision is to be the most professional life insurance company in the world by providing the best financial protection and investment management services, tailored to meet the needs of customers in every market where we do business. By investing in the new headquarters, Manulife can continue to provide excellent service to all our customers and contribute to the development of the local economy for many years to come. We are confident the state-of-the-art Manulife Vietnam headquarters building, right in the heart of this new urban center, will further enhance the visibility and credibility of the Manulife brand.

Foreign housing policy speculation

With foreigners expected to be allowed to buy houses in Vietnam in the near-future, HCMC property dealers have begun to up their prices. Investors have been swallowing the high prices as they expect to re-sell the properties to foreigners at even higher rates later. But as would-be future policies of foreign buying are unclear, such investors might be fishing for a red herring. The momentum behind those who want to buy and then sell expensive property to foreigners has set off a rise in HCMC land plot prices, especially in district’s 2, 7 and Nha Be, that may not last.

Singapore hosted largest Vietnam’s real estate industry gathering

Singapore recently played host to the largest gathering of Vietnam’s Real Estate industry ever to take place in the region. Some 176 delegates from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, USA and Vietnam attended the inaugural Vietnam REAL ESTATE 2007. The event also coincided with the visit by the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who led a large delegation comprising cabinet members and business leaders to Singapore on 13 and 14 August

land in Viet Nam to skyrocket above the price of land in other countries

Hoa Binh Construction and Real Estate Corporation (Hoabinh Corporation) is one of the leading real estate and housing construction companies in the country. Viet Nam News talks with Le Viet Hai, Chairman and CEO of Hoabinh Corporation, on the sideline of the Asean 100 Leadership Forum 2007 in August. Currently, between 30 and 40 per cent of our investment capital comes from the shares we own in the stock market. The remainder of the investment capital comes from our business partners.

Houses for lease: geese that lay golden eggs

The Land Law doesn’t permit foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam so leasing houses to foreigners has become a sweet deal for many businesses in big cities of Vietnam like Hanoi and HCM City. With a plot of land located at a good site, one can build a house and decorate it modernly for foreigners to lease to earn VND40-50 million (US$2,500-3,100) a month. Many individuals and companies get rich thanks to this servic

Limitless in $220mn Vietnam venture

Dubai real estate firm Limitless today unveiled plans to build a $220 million luxury mixed-use development in Vietnam, one of a number of agreements announced during a state visit to the Southeast Asian country by the ruler of Dubai. Limitless, part of state-owned conglomerate Dubai World, said the Halong Star project is a joint venture with Vietnam’s Phuong Hung Joint Stock Company and International Property Investment Partners. The 125-hectare development will be located on Vietnam’s Northeast coast at Halong Bay, a popular tourist destination and Unesco-sanctioned world heritage site.

Real estate market heating up

Mr Tan, the broker at the Van Quan Property Office in Ha Dong town, said that the prices of the villas in advantageous positions had seen two-fold increases, from VND3bil to VND6bil on average. The prices of Vimeco’s apartments near Big C Supermart in Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh new urban area have increased by VND500mil from the original prices. The owners of Vinaconex’s 34-storey apartments, who bought the apartments two years ago, are now leasing the apartments at $500-1,000. The prices of houses and land in districts 2 and 9 in HCM City changed continuously last week. The land plots on Song Hanh Road, Hanoi highway and An Phu-An Khanh residential quarter, which were offered at VND30-32mil/sq m, have jumped to VND35mil/sq m. Meanwhile, the prices of Huy Hoang apartments, which were thought to have the lowest levels, have also soared to over VND20mil/sq m from the previous levels of VND17-19mil/sq m.

What can big corporations’ cooperation deals bring?

A lot of cooperation agreements have been signed recently, between the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and three corporations, Vincom (real estate developer), BIDV (bank) and Vinaconex (construction); between BIDV and the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB); between the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacoal) and a transport works design company. VNPT, for example, is mainly a telecommunications service provider. However, with the cooperation with Vinaconex and Vincom, it is attempting to enter a new business field: construction and real estate. The enterprises that cooperate with VNPT will also benefit from having VNPT as a special partner in terms of access to its services.