Vietnam’s Top Property News – Week 22/2021
The top residential and commercial real estate news of the Week 22/2021 and property recommendations:
Information herein has been obtained from sources believed reliable, please analyze and use it at your own responsibility and independently confirm its accuracy and completeness.
NEW – Grand Marina Saigon (District 1, HCMC)
- Developed by Masterise Homes
- First branded residential project by JW Marriott & Marriott
- Expected launch in May 2021
- Refundable booking is now available
NEW – Shophouse at LUMIÈRE riverside (District 2, HCMC):
- Developed by Masterise Homes
- The last shophouses in Thao Dien, District 2
- 4.8-5.6mx12m
- 13 units in East Tower and 46 units in West Tower
NEW – Angsana Residences Ho Tram by Banyan Tree:
- Developed by Banyan Tree and Madison Land
- Located at a prime location at Ho Tram, only 2 hours away from HCMC
- 2 and 3 Pool Villas from 360-384m2
- Price per unit from 990,000 USD
Vietnam discovers new coronavirus variant with UK, Indian mutations
Swab samples are tested for Covid-19 in a laboratory in Bac Giang, May 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh
Vietnam has detected a coronavirus hybrid variant with characteristics from the existing Indian and U.K. variants, the Ministry of Health announced Saturday.
Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said genetic sequencing on several Covid-19 patients in Vietnam have revealed the presence of two common coronavirus variants: one first discovered in the U.K. and the other from India.
The U.K. variant is believed to be more transmissible than ordinary strains, while the Indian variant is both more transmissible and potentially less susceptible to neutralizing antibodies of the immune system, experts said.
But a new coronavirus variant has recently been detected in Vietnam with characteristics from both the U.K. and the Indian variants. More specifically, it is an Indian variant with mutations that originally belong to the U.K. variant.
Genetic sequencing by National Institute Of Hygiene And Epidemiology found at least four Covid-19 patients in the country carry the hybrid variant.
Le Thi Quynh Mai, deputy head of the institute, said: “We discovered the Y144 deletion on spike protein S of the B.1.617.2 variant. This mutation is similar to the one found on the B.1.1.7 variant.”
The B.1.617.2 was first found in India and the B.1.1.7 in the U.K.
Mai said such mutation on the Indian variant is not yet recorded by GISAID, a global science initiative and primary source that provides open-access to genomic data of influenza viruses and the coronavirus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus it needs to be monitored and researched further, she said.
Long said the Ministry of Health would announce the new coronavirus variant on the global genome map, adding that the new variant has yet to be named.
Source: VnExpress
HCMC imposes two-week social distancing
An area around the Saigon Opera House is almost empty amid complicated Covid-19 developments in HCMC, May 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
Ho Chi Minh City’s chairman has ordered social distancing measures to be imposed across the city for at least two weeks starting Monday, amid rising Covid-19 infections.
Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said at a meeting Sunday that strict measures are needed as a religious mission cluster in the city has kept getting bigger. The city has recorded 126 patients linked to the cluster since Wednesday, although 33 of them have not been confirmed by the Health Ministry.
The city is going to impose social distancing measures following the government’s Directive 16 in Go Vap District, where the mission is based, and District 12’s Thanh Loc Ward. A large number of infections have been recorded in these areas. The rest of the city will follow instructions from Directive 15.
Directive 15 requires suspension to social events, bans gatherings of 20 people or more in one place and of 10 people or more outside workplaces, schools and hospitals. A minimum distance of two meters between people in public places should be ensured.
Directive 16 imposes stricter measures. It does not allow gatherings of more than two people in public and asks people to only leave home for emergencies, buying food and medicine, and working in factories, production facilities and businesses that involve “essential” goods and services.
Go Vap, with a total area of 19.7 square kilometers, is the second most populated district in HCMC after Binh Tan with a population of over 676,000 people. Nearby District 12 has a total population of more than 620,000 people, including nearly 42,000 in Thanh Loc Ward.
Nguyen Van Nen, Party Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City, said: “The city must accept the social distancing measure for long-term protection. The two weeks period can be quite long, but there is no other solution. We need to take into account possible worse scenarios for the city.”
This is the second time HCMC, the country’s largest city with 13 million residents, imposes citywide social distancing, with the first time in April last year when it followed a national order.
Vietnam’s latest Covid-19 wave has seen 3,893 infections over the past month with the outbreak hitting 34 cities and provinces, including 108 confirmed cases in HCMC.
Source: VnExpress
Costs but no income for many businesses amid Covid
Textile workers make garment products at a factory in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Cao Nam
The Covid-19 pandemic means many businesses have less or even no income, but there is no respite for them from expenses.
Delta International, a Hanoi transport firm, said half of its vehicles have remained unused for a month since orders have dried up, especially to the pandemic epicenter in nearby Bac Giang Province. As of Monday morning the province had reported 2,161 cases.
But it still has to pay salaries, parking fees, office rent, and others.
Its CEO, Nguyen Duc Nghia, estimated the company has lost VND200 million ($8,600) since the start of the fourth coronavirus wave in late April.
It has also spent around VND500 million to have its employees tested. He said some provinces like Bac Ninh require drivers to produce a certificate saying they tested negative within the previous three days to enter. The cost of a real-time polymerase chain reaction, or RT-PCR, test for coronavirus is VND700,000-800,000.
“The amount of money the company has spent on testing the employees is enough to buy vaccines for all of them.”
The best solution is vaccination since then employees would not have to be tested or be quarantined, he said.
Companies in labor-intensive sectors such as manufacturing also have to meet various expenses.
Bac Giang Province had shut down four industrial parks on May 18 to contain the coronavirus, and, despite closing, companies there have to pay warehouse rents, buy personal protective equipment and pay for Covid-19 tests for workers, according to Do Thi Thuy Huong, vice chairwoman of the Vietnam Association of Supporting Industries.
Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said many customers have informed companies that they need to deliver goods in time even if it means shipping by air, which would increase transport costs.
Some textile companies in pandemic-hit localities have suspended operations but still have to pay salaries to retain workers, he added.
Source: VnExpress
Lao Cai among five stunning natural wonders in Southeast Asia: Forbes
Sa Pa Town is covered in thick cloud. Photo by Bui Xuan Viet
The northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, home to resort town Sa Pa and Vietnam’s tallest mountain Fansipan, is one of five must-visit natural wonders in Southeast Asia, according to Forbes.
The list was compiled by the U.S. magazine based on its survey of 133 million tourists who visited the region in 2019 before the Covid-19 crisis broke out, resulting in border closures and travel restrictions.
“For those wishing to immerse themselves in the stunning terraced hills that Vietnam is renowned for, few destinations can compare to Lao Cai Province, a hilly region in the northernmost of the country,” Forbes wrote.
Lao Cai is famous for the popular highlands resort town Sa Pa that boasts a cool climate and green scenery, and is home to ethnic minority groups like the Hmong, Red Dao and Tay who started carving rice terraces into the mountains centuries ago and still use them today.
Rice terraces are at their beautiful best during harvest season from September to November each year, with parts of the town dyed golden yellow.
One of the famed tourist destinations in Lao Cai is Mount Fansipan at 3,145 meters (10,311 feet), nicknamed ‘the roof of Indochina’ and a Mecca for Vietnamese trekkers.
“For a truly memorable vacation, tourists can follow their visit with a trek across the Chinese border to Kunming, a verdant destination often called the “City of Eternal Spring,” the magazine said.
Other natural wonders it recommended in Southeast Asia are Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in the Philippines, Thailand’s Red Lotus Lake, Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia and Indonesia’s Komodo Archipelago.
Source: VnExpress
Covid dampens Da Nang real estate market
Buildings seen in Da Nang City. Photo by VnExpress/Kim Lien
The Da Nang hospitality, retail and office market was sharply down in May as the latest Covid-19 wave hit demand.
Hotels saw occupancy fall 44 percentage points year-on-year to the lowest in a decade, with average prices down 50 percent.
Retail and office rents were cut by nearly 40 percent to attract tenants amid slumping demand due to social distancing measures.
Many businesses that were unable to keep paying rents have had to close down.
However, the residential and industrial property segments remained mostly unaffected.
Around 14 residential projects on 850 hectares of land are set to be developed in the next few years.
Many companies are still looking to establish themselves in the city or expand, thus raising demand for industrial lands.
Source: VnExpress
Set up Property Investment Plan with Budget Suitable Options and Decent Capital Yield?
Email Support (24H): We know you will have a lot questions. Send us an email and we will get back to you within 1 working day.
Realtique Co., LTD
+84903186378 (Whatsapp/Viber/Zalo/Wechat)
