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Local and foreign start-up have the same challenges and opportunities in Vietnam

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Currently, there are cover 3,000 start-ups in Vietnam with increased interest from global investors.

Vietnam has an open policy for innovative foreign start-ups investing in the country, so both Vietnamese and foreign start-up businesses have the same challenges and opportunities. Vu Duc Dam, Deputy Prime Minister spoke at the High Level Policy Dialogue on start-up ecosystem development during TechFest 2018. He pointed out difficulties in the start-up business environment to foreign businesses and risk investment foundations seeking opportunities in the country.

Related topic: Company formation in Vietnam

“We welcome all start-up businesses and do not distinguish between Vietnamese and foreign businesses,” Dam said. “We shared our challenges and hope foreign start-up investors can turn them into opportunities. Vietnam’s Government would include a start-up program in the curriculum to encourage young people to think big in the future.”

“There is no doubt that Vietnam is going through a golden period of innovation,” said Caitlin Wiesen, Country Director of UNDP Vietnam. “The start-up ecosystem continues to grow as there are currently over 3,000 start-ups in Vietnam with increased interest from global investors. This is a considerable growth from 2012 when there were merely 400 start-ups. “But at the same time, we know that Vietnam continues to face significant challenges to the country’s continued economic, social and environmental development,” she said. She said economic inequality, environmental degradation, increasing energy and food demands, some remaining pockets of poverty and the effects of climate change are all problems the Government cannot address on its own.

“We are not going to meet the ambition of the 2030 Agenda and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 without start-ups and entrepreneurship, and it is critical for the Government of Vietnam to connect start-ups to these challenges to tap into the commitment, creativity and vision of this new generation of young Vietnamese entrepreneurs to solve some of the biggest challenges this country faces,” she said.

Dr. Emmet McElhatton, Commercial Manager of New Zealand G2G Partnerships Office, said: “New Zealand is a large country but with a small population, far away from the rest of the world. And that means we need to make innovation part of our survival DNA. To survive as an economy, we have to innovate.” He said focus should not be on physical buildings and spaces, but on programs and activation. Co-working spaces do not contribute to economic development, and are simply modern office spaces. “There are a limited number of sustainable funding models that support the ecosystems,” he said. “Income for incubators and accelerators can be generated from education and training, innovation services, fund management and, to a lesser degree, commercialization and equity. Engagement of the ecosystem is driven through innovation expertise and brand.” He said it was healthy to talk about failure, as only three out of every 100 ventures succeed. “I emphasize the importance of government thinking and behaving in a lean and agile manner,” he said. “We have the duty to our citizens to improve services and embrace what comes out of the private sector in terms of new ways of working and providing support to our citizens.”

Aaron McDonald, CEO and Co-founder of Centrality – Australia’s largest and one of the world’s top Blockchain projects – said Centrality sees Vietnam as a hot spot for highly skilled and trained developers. He said the crypto and developer community in Vietnam is growing fast and Centrality would like to build on its network. Centrality’s tools offer options to create consumer apps and monetize ideas. “We think there are great opportunities for businesses and individuals in Vietnam to take advantage of the decentralized economy,” he said. “There is a talent pool of skilled developers and some great entrepreneurial ideas in Vietnam.

Distributed ledgers and blockchain technology have the potential to provide a real boost to the economy. Blockchain is an incredibly powerful and disruptive technology which provides real opportunities for ground-breaking innovation.” A document-signing ceremony was also held yesterday between the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam, Enterprise Singapore (ESG), Action Community for Entrepreneurship (Singapore), Start-up Thailand, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre, World Start-up Festival (the US) and German Accelerator Southeast Asia. The document expressed support for the development of an innovation start-up ecosystem.

The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and EON Reality Inc from the US also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on developing virtual and augmented reality.

TechFest 2018 closes today.

By Vietnam News

Gambling tsar among officials jailed in US$420 million Vietnam betting ring

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Dozens of people, including two former top cops, were convicted in Vietnam Friday (Nov 30) in connection with a US$420 million online gambling ring run by the official in charge of policing internet betting.

The gambling racket is the largest online ring ever busted in communist Vietnam, where most gambling is banned for locals though black market betting thrives online.

Following a three-week trial that was guarded by hundreds of police officers in northern Phu Tho province, 91 people were punished Friday in connection with the gambling ring worth US$420 million.

Some were given jail terms, ordered to pay fines or sentenced to house arrest.

The harshest sentence went to Nguyen Thanh Hoa, the 60-year-old former head of the “high-technology department” in charge of policing online gambling at the powerful Ministry of Public Security.

He got 10 years in jail for “abusing power while performing official duty”, the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

Before his arrest in March, the now-disgraced official had gained a reputation for being tough on internet betting and had shut down hundreds of sites linked to illegal football betting.

His accomplice Phan Van Vinh, the former head of the police general department at MPS, was sentenced to nine years in jail on the same charge.

“(Vinh) caused discontent among the public and distrust of the police force,” judge Nguyen Thi Thuy Huong said, quoted by state-controlled VNExpress news site.

Vinh, 63, was not present at the court Friday afternoon because he was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure, VNExpress reported.

In a testimony to the court, one of Vinh’s co-accused said he gave the former police official hundreds of thousands dollars in bribes along with a Rolex watch, which Vinh denied.

Vinh and Hoa are among the most senior officials convicted as part of the government’s anti-corruption sweep that has seen dozens of high-flying executives, bankers and officials put behind bars.

The anti-graft campaign with echoes of Beijing’s massive corruption crackdown is being led by a conservative administration in charge since 2016.

The crackdown is championed by Nguyen Phu Trong, the head of Vietnam’s Communist Party and the country’s president, who has vowed to stamp out mismanagement at every level.

But observers say the drive is also aimed at eliminating political foes.

With 6.8 per cent GDP growth last year Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, but it also ranks among the most corrupt.

Transparency International ranks its 107 out of 180 on its Corruption Perceptions Index, behind Thailand and Indonesia.

The one-party state has started loosening rule on gambling for locals, announcing last year that Vietnamese citizens could gamble in casinos on a trial basis and opening up some sports betting.

According to a report on AFP

Vietnam Oil And Gas Market Research Report: Ken Research

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The world oil and gas industry will continue to grow steadily in 2018, with demand growth expected to rise slightly to around xx.x million barrels a day while gas demand is expected to grow faster.

Gas demand is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 2.1% per year in the period 2018-2020. World oil supplies have increased by nearly 1.5 million barrels per day to about xx million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2018. The Middle East is the main global oil supplier, accounting for 34.5% of total production. Oil prices in the first quarter of 2018 continued to show positive growth of about xx.x USD/barrel, up 24% over last year. In 2016, global natural gas production reached 3,552 trillion cubic meters, up 0.6 percent from 2015-the lowest growth since 2009 up to now.

Vietnam Oil And Gas Market is still relatively young and has just begun to receive proper attention from the Government. Vietnam oil and gas industry is still putting the main export exploitation as the key role so it depends heavily on world oil price. The oil and gas industry includes many stages, not only explored and exploited, but also processed from crude oil into refined oil. As usual, the oil industry is divided into three types of activities known as the upstream, midstream, and downstream.

In the first quarter of 2018, the oil and gas industry exploited nearly x.xx million tons of oil, down 8.57% over the same period. The natural gas output reached x,xxx m3, up 6.15% compared to the same period of 2017. According to preliminary data from the General Department of Customs, in the first quarter of 2018, crude oil exports reached x.xx million tons, export turnover reached x.xx billion USD, decreasing by 19.3% over the same period of 2016. Vietnam’s crude oil imports are estimated at xxx.x thousand tons with the value of about xx.x million USD, increasing by 14% in volume and 29.6% in value over the same period in 2017. In terms of gas, Vietnam exported USD xx.x million, up 1.97% but imports up to xxx.x million, up 39% against same period.

In 2016, the group of oil and gas enterprises had negative growth in net sales compared to 2015. The reason is that the domestic oil and gas industry was strongly affected by the world oil and gas market; In particular, world oil prices fell sharply and remained low. In the coming time, cutting crude oil production by OPEC leads to the upward trend in crude oil prices. That will have a strong impact on the domestic petroleum market; in which, the oil and gas exploitation of Vietnam is evaluated to be stable again.

For more information on the research report, refer to below link:
https://www.kenresearch.com/energy-and-utilities/gas/vietnam-oil-gas-standard/155424-103.html

Contact:
Ken Research
Ankur Gupta, Head Marketing
Sales@kenresearch.com | +91-9015378249

Vietnam’s banks: small capital, low technology, bad debt

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While commercial banks in the world are changing fast to adapt to the 4.0 industrial revolution, Vietnam’s banks are still busy trying to raise capital.

Le Xuan Nghia, a banking expert, said after the 2008 financial crisis, the standards on bank administration were strengthened heightened, leaving Vietnam far behind.

Considered the ‘pillars’ of the national economy, the four largest banks, where the state holds a controlling stake, have a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) just above 9 percent, the minimum required level.

International institutions warned that if Vietnam’s banks cannot increase their capital, once Basel II’s standards are applied, their CARs may drop to 7 percent.

Joint stock banks have higher CARs, but they also find it difficult to observe Basel II, because they not only have to satisfy the requirements in capital, but also follow a series of strict requirements stipulated in Basel II.

The year 2020 is nearing, but to date, of the 10 banks that will apply Basel II in a pilot program, only VIB, VP Bank and Vietcombank are ready.

Dang Ngoc Duc, head of the Banking & Finance Institute, said the total capital of four largest banks in Vietnam is just equal to the capital of a medium-scale bank in the region. The small capital makes banks vulnerable to risks.

“In the banking sector, the scale of total assets and stockholder equity serve as a ‘buffer’ against risk. The capital of Vietnamese banks is too small,” Duc commented.

Modernization is a compulsory in the second phase of the bank restructuring process. However, analysts say that digital products introduced by banks so far remain very poor.

“In 2016, when I visited a bank branch in Spain, the branch had 95 workers. But when I once again met the bank’s manager last October, I heard that there are only three workers left and all operations are carried out online,” Nghia said.

An analyst, agreeing with Nghia, said while the banks in the world are using technology to manage service quality and customers, and develop new products and ecosystems, most Vietnamese banks still cannot create a digital space for customers.

The latest reports show that the bad debt ratio has increased again despite good macroeconomic indicators.

The fifth-group debt, or irrecoverable debt, of 23 reported banks, increased by 31 percent, compared to earlier this year, to VND46.9 trillion.

According to a report on Vietnamnet

VDSC Weekly Market Recap: Coverage List, Labour Productivity, Money Market, PNJ, HAX

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VNIndex closed November at 926.54 points, which gains 1.29% compared to last month. Low liquidity has now become a common factor of this market. The average matching value of November is around $109mn, the lowest in the last ten months. This month, foreign investors have a net buying value of $59.5mn but it’s not enough to lead local investor’s responses.

In general, the market seems to get stuck in its low liquidity, lack of supportive macro news, and lack of local investors’ belief. The shares become cheap but local investors expect to see them a little bit cheaper. People also want to see more buying forces from foreign investors, but no one could say when. This sideway could be challenging the patience of many fund managers, due to their lost in fund’s NAVs while the end of the year is coming closer and closer.

For this week, I want to talk about the potential of eCommerce in Vietnam. In 2018, revenue of Vietnam’s e-commerce is expected to reach $2,269mn, increasing 29% y.o.y with 49.79mn users – a penetration rate of 52.5%. If we take a look around ASEAN, the spending on e-commerce per person in Vietnam is still quite low, only about $45/person/year, while this number is much higher in Thailand and Malaysia, which is $100 and $158 respectively. However, we see the potentials of Vietnam in eCommerce due to these reasons:

Vietnam population is ranked third in ASEAN, behind Indonesia and Philippines.

The urbanization rate is round 35% which helps improving internet users from 67% of total population to 80% in 2020.
There are 70 million people who have mobile phones but only 64 million people use internet due to elderly population. With the strong growth of internet and smartphones, we believe the number of people that use internet should be equal to the number of people that have mobile phones in a few years.
The strong growth of ecommerce companies such as Lazada, Shopee, Tiki and Sendo. None of these companies generates profit as they accept loss in the first few years to improve their market share and customer base. Therefore, we expect the eCommerce’s revenue will continue to grow fast in 2019 and 2020, increasing 25.5% and 19.5% y.o.y respectively.

Fast expansion of eCommerce leads to higher demand for logistics, especially delivery segments. These above mentioned eCommerce companies have two options to solve this problem:

Build and develop their own shipping companies like Lazada Express (LEX).
Outsourcing to other logistics companies.

Because their main focus is taking as much market shares as possible, most eCommerce companies choose to outsource logistics to reduce workload, bringing a lot of benefit to big logistics companies such as VN Post and Viettel Post (Ticker: VTP) – the company recently got listed on UPCoM last Friday (Nov 23, 2018)

Viettel Post has the highest growth in delivery services and is ranked second in terms of market share in Vietnam. In 7 years, VTP has increased its market share from 8% in 2010 to 25.7% in 2017. Viettel Post has an annual revenue growth rate of 47% in 5 recent years. The company is changing its business model from sales (air ticket, stationary) and services (express delivery, logistic) to mainly providing services, which accounts for 94% of total revenue in 1Q2018 compared to 60% of total revenue last year. This also helps improving its net profit in 1Q2018, increasing 68% y.o.y.

In the 1H2018, the VTP’s NPAT reached $5.08mn, increasing 60% compared to last year period. The EPS reached VND3,940 in the first six months of 2018. The company aims to be the best logistic business for others companies in Vietnam, targeting $500mn in revenue with 30-37% market share in 2020. Viettel Post has a strong network including 1,400 post offices, 17,000 staff and more than 500 transportation cars to all regions around Vietnam. Viettel Post has reached to foreign markets such as Cambodia and Myanmar since 2009. In specifics, the company has presented in 24/24 provinces in Cambodia through its subsidiaries.

On the market, VTP gained 83.8% since its listing. The stock price is now traded at VND125,000/share, as of Nov 30-2018.

Rong Viet Securities Equity Research Summary

Changes in The Money Market Last Week

The money market always plays a key role in the short-term, highlighting how the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) responds to changes in the market.
Currently, the interbank market has seen significant higher interest rates which built up a new base around 5%.\

A high US Dollar Index as well as strong fluctuations in the FX markets affects foreign currency demand of exporters and importers.

In the secondary bond market, there are two elements to highlight.

The G-Bond yields has gone sideways in recent weeks
The G-Bond yield curve is flattening.

Firstly, that the government actively reduced the amounts issued softened the pressure on G-Bond yields in both the primary and secondary markets. Secondly, relatively high increases of short-term G-Bond yields have contributed to a flatter G-Bond yield curve.

While there is no doubt of that short-term demand is there, the SBV continues to exploit the OMO channels and inject money into the banking system.

Phu Nhuan Jewelry JSC (HSX: PNJ) – (Update, BUY, VND126,000, UPSIDE 34%)

3Q18 performance: maintaining high growth

Revenue and PAT increased by 35% and 38% respectively YoY due to the main contribution of the gold jewelry business.
High same store sales growth (SSSG) of 23%. Ticket size increased 15% YoY, while the numbers of new customers and returning customers rose 50% and 58% respectively.
Opening of the retail network, from 269 stores to 308 stores in 9M18, accomplishing 2018’s target.

2019: Continuing to open retail stores

The jewelry business will grow well next year due to the continued expansion of stores.

The investments in ERP management systems, big data and omni-channel sales will help improve operational efficiency and increase the gap between PNJ and its competitors.

Valuation

The stock is trading at 94.x current EPS of VND6,434. Furthermore, at its current price, it is trading at ~5.4x P/B. Cash dividend is expected at VND1,800.

Hang Xanh Motors Service JSC (HoSE: HAX ) – Gross Profit Margin of the Automobile Business May Peak in 2018

In 9M18, HAX experienced a growth of 9% YoY in NPAT.

4Q18 GPM of the automobile business may remain as high as that of the two recent quarters.

GPM of HAX’s core business has benefited from difficulties in the automobile market since 2Q18. Its GPM increased from 2.2% and 4.7% in 2Q17 and 3Q17 to 6.0% and 5.6% in 2Q18 and 3Q18.

In 4Q18, the shortage of automobiles may remain supportive of GPM, HAX’s core business.

Incentives could be significant in 4Q18, increasing by 10% YoY to VND28bn.

4Q18 performance will remain strong.

Although in 4Q 2018, supply of Mercedes – Benz cannot meet the high demand, we still believe a growth of 9% YoY in sales volume is possible.
Revenue may reach VND1.25tn (+16% YoY). NPAT could witness a growth of 73% YoY to VND45bn.
Although earnings of HAX in the first three quarters were not so impressive, we still expect 2018 NPAT to reach VND108bn (+29% YoY), corresponding to an EPS of 3,085 VND/share.

At current market price, HAX is trading at a P/E ratio of 5.2x, quite attractive given the bright outlook in 4Q18 and 2019.

Saigon rents 100 cameras to monitor traffic safety

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The Saigon’s Department of Transport has sought permission to rent 100 more cameras to monitor traffic safety, saying there are no cameras on a number of streets and intersections, which poses difficulties for authorities to tackle traffic problems.

“Only a small number of cameras have been installed, leaving many roads unmonitored” said Mr. Vo Khanh Hung, deputy director of the Department of Transport.

A section of National Highway No 1A in Thu Duc district is congested but cameras are only installed at intersections and traffic police checkpoints, allowing people to brazenly violate traffic rulers without fear of punishment. VNS, a local media reports.

Similarly, few cameras have been placed at crossroads and intersections such as the Nguyen Xi Street and Dinh Bo Linh Street intersection in Binh Thanh district, Hoang Van Thu Street -Nguyen KiemStreet intersection in Phu Nhuan district and 3/2 Street Le Hong Phong Street intersection in District 10.

There are 591 traffic cameras connected with the department’s Centre for Traffic Monitoring and Operation, including 252 installed by others like the VOV National Traffic Channel, Phu My Hung Development Co and the City Urban Drainage Company Ltd, Mr. Hung said.

The Department of Transport would have to pay 107,000 USD for renting and maintaining its 339 cameras next year.

The plan to hire 100 more cameras is also part of the master plan to develop Saigon into a smart city in 2017 – 2020.

Many districts have installed cameras to monitor public security, traffic safety and illegal use of pavements.

District 12 authorities have installed 600 in 11 wards and Go Vap district’s Ward 14 has installed 200 cameras.

In District 5’s Ward 12, cameras installed recently at the Tan Hung-Thuan Kieu intersection have helped curb violations. Tran Phuong Nam, Chairman of the ward People’s Committee, said the ward has installed nearly 100 cameras.

The camera installation has helped improve proper use of pavements, he added.

In April, Binh Thanh district launched an app for the public to complain about garbage dumping, illegal construction and pavement encroachment. It has yielded positive results and the city plans to expand the app to all districts.

Besides monitoring public security and traffic safety, cameras also help authorities quickly resolve problems and discover violations related to the use of pavements, a spokesman for the District 12 People’s Committee said.

“The cameras have helped reduce the number of violations” said Mr. Dang Cong Tuan, Vice Chairman of Ward 14 in Go Vap district.

Read full article on VNA

$20 trillion climate investment opportunities found in Asian cities

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Cities across Asia have the potential to attract more than $20 trillion in climate-related investments in six key sectors by 2030, according to a new report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Vietnam’s climate-smart business investment potential is particularly estimated at $753 billion.
IFC’s report entitled Climate Investment Opportunities in Cities analyses cities’ climate-related targets and action plans in six regions, identifying opportunities in priority sectors such as green buildings, public transportation, electric vehicles, waste, water, and renewable energy. It highlights the innovative approaches that cities already use – such as green bonds and public-private partnerships – to attract private capital and build urban resilience.

Investment potential in cities in East Asia-Pacific and South Asia, accordingly, are estimated at $17.5 trillion and $2.5 trillion across the six priority sectors, totalling $20 trillion to 2030.

It says with its plans, policies, and projects, the Asia-Pacific region has the highest climate smart investment potential of any region in the world, with by far the biggest opportunity in green buildings, estimated at $17.8 trillion by 2030.

With more than half of the world’s population currently living in urban areas, cities consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for more than 70 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. How cities address climate change will be critical to efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“There is a great urgency to address climate change – we must take meaningful action now,” said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou. “Cities are the next frontier for climate investment, with trillions of dollars in untapped opportunities. To deliver on the promise of climate-smart cities, the public sector needs to enact reforms that are aimed at attracting more private sector financing.”

“With the expected dramatic increase in urban population centres in Asia, there is even more of an opportunity for a low-carbon transition in cities, which already account for much of the GDP in this region,” said IFC regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, Vivek Pathak. “In Jakarta, there is about $30 billion investment opportunity, particularly in green buildings, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. The report shows megacities in Asia also have significant potential for investments that yield emission reductions.”

Globally, green buildings will account for $24.7 trillion of cities’ climate investment opportunities. Significant investment potential exists in low-carbon transportation solutions such as energy-efficient public transport ($1 trillion) and electric vehicles ($1.6 trillion). At the same time, clean energy ($842 billion), water ($1 trillion), and waste ($200 billion) remain essential components of sustainable urban development.

In the Asia-Pacific, the report estimates the investment potential in green buildings is $17.8 trillion, in waste $104 billion, in public transport $352 billion, in renewable energy $407 billion, in climate-smart water $571 billion, and in electric vehicles $783 billion.

Addressing climate change is a strategic priority for IFC. Since 2005, IFC has invested $22.2 billion in long-term financing from its own account and mobilised another $15.7 billion through partnerships with investors for climate-related projects. The latest report is part of the Climate Investment Opportunities report series initiated by IFC in 2016.

Based on IFC’s analysis of the climate pledges made by the region’s four countries studied for this report – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam – the total estimated climate-smart investment potential is more than $16 trillion by 2030. Nearly 81 per cent of this potential is construction of new green buildings in China ($12.9 trillion) – this is the result of China’s aim to move 250 million people into cities by 2025 and is reflected in their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Beyond China’s green buildings sector, the opportunity to develop the region’s urban areas is immense and is largely composed of three primary sectors: buildings, transport, and waste.

The commercial investment potential in climate-smart urban transport for the four countries is almost $1.4 trillion, and for the municipal solid waste sector the opportunity is over $53 billion. Construction of new green buildings is a $345 billion opportunity in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Opportunities for investment in climate-smart agriculture, forestry, and land-use projects across the region are also important, but the current lack of available data for these sectors hindered IFC’s ability to produce investment estimates of sufficient quality.

Vietnam’s climate-smart business investment potential, as per IFC’s Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets report, is estimated at $753 billion, with the majority ($571 billion) going towards the country’s transportation infrastructure needs by 2030. Potential investment in renewable energy totals $59 billion, with over half of this ($31 billion) in solar photovoltaic and another $19 billion for small hydropower projects. New green buildings represent an almost $80 billion investment opportunity.

Source: VIR

Market waits for regulations on small apartments

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The property market awaits technical standards for the development of small apartments, which may become a trend to deal with the housing crisis caused by the country’s rapid urbanisation.

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Construction gave the green light to HCM City to study the development of apartments with areas ranging from 25sq.m to 45sq.m. The city was allowed to have around 20 to 25 per cent of new apartments fall within this range while waiting for official regulations.

The ministry is compiling the national technical standards for apartments, which are expected to set the minimum area for commercial apartments at 25sq.m.

The in-effect Law on Housing 2014 does not regulate the minimum area of an apartment. But the Government’s Decree No 100/2015/ND-CP, dated October 20, 2015, set the minimum area for a social housing apartments at 25 sq.m.

Due to the lack of regulations, the development of small apartments has been a controversial topic. Some worried small apartments might turn into slums, while others said they would meet a majority of the market demand.

The ministry said the market was showing high demand for affordable small apartments. For example, studio apartments at VinCity Ocean Park with areas from 28sq.m to 33 sq.m, priced from VND23 million (US$1,000) and VND30 million, recently released for sale and were reportedly already sold out.

According to real estate and investment management services firm Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL), small apartments are becoming a popular trend in crowded cities – home to over half of the world’s population – where space is sparse, costs are high and finding a suitable place to live is a real challenge.

Stephen Wyatt, country head of JLL Vietnam, said Ha Noi and HCM City had significant potential to build micro apartment units.

Most city-dwellers could only afford larger apartments far from the central areas, but young urbanites now prefer small units in the heart of the city with adequate services, he said.

Micro apartments were a solution, he said, adding that many developers were building units that cater to these changing tastes.

According to Nguyen Trong Ninh, Director of the ministry’s Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department, there is huge demand for apartments smaller than 45 sq.m, which are affordable to lower-income workers, singles and young families.

Micro units were a potential solution to the shortage of social housing projects and affordable homes, Ninh said.

Countries like France, Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia all allow the development of micro apartments.

A minimum apartment area of 25 sq.m to house one to three people fits with Viet Nam’s national housing development strategy, which targeted a minimum housing area of eight sq.m per head by 2020.

Ninh said housing quality was not only decided by area but also by construction quality, facilities, infrastructure and quality of services. For this reason, small apartments are not always slums.

Property expert Dang Hung Vo said it is time to encourage developers to build micro apartments to cope with the shortage of affordable homes.

Source: VNA

Chinese tour guide jailed for stealing cosmetics from Da Nang airport

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A Da Nang court Friday sentenced a Chinese man to nine-months’ imprisonment for stealing high-end cosmetic products.
Bai Xin Xing, 32, works as a guide for tourists from China in the central city of Da Nang.

On July 27, this year, he was with a group of Chinese tourists returning to China’s Xi’an City from the Da Nang International Airport. Before the flight took off, the group shopped at a duty free store inside the airport. Xing then stole a bottle of perfume worth VND23 million ($987).

A store employee spotted the theft and called for help in apprehending him. Airport security staff checked his bag and found the stolen product.

The indictment said he had carried out several similar thefts at airport duty free stores without getting caught.

Bai admitted to his theft Friday. He said he would observe where the cameras were installed and find a way to obscure them and steal things.

Da Nang is one of the top destinations for Chinese visitors to Vietnam.

In the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam received 4.1 million Chinese visitors, up 28.8 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Chinese visitors accounted for 32 percent of foreign arrivals in the country during the period.

Source: Vnexpress

Saigon hotel fined for ‘sexy’ services in unlicensed karaoke parlor

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A raid on a Saigon downtown hotel found around 60 waitresses in skimpy clothes “playing” with South Korean guests.
The Friday night raid was carried out on the Janus Hotel on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in District 1, which local reports say is exclusively patronized by South Koreans.

Police said the hotel`s security guards were prevented from turning on the alarm system.

They found dozens of waitresses flirting with drunk customers.

None of the waitresses had signed labor contracts with the hotel owner, and were working for tips from customers, police said.

The hotel was fined an undisclosed amount for operating an unlicensed karaoke business, violating fire safety regulations and offering erotic services for customers.

In a pre-dawn swoop on Saturday, police also raided a karaoke parlor on Dien Bien Phu Street in District 3 and arrested dozens of suspected drug users. All employees of the parlor were taken for drug tests.

The raids are part of an operation to tighten control over several kinds of commercial sex services offered by many restaurants and bars in the tourist district, police said.

In another pre-dawn raid Tuesday, HCMC detained 70 drug users and female sex workers.

According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Saigon has nearly 22,000 registered drug users, the highest in the country at nearly 10 percent of the country’s total.

There are around 3,000 sex workers in Saigon, according to official data. The Vietnamese parliament has inconclusively debated legalization of sex services in the country.

Source: Vnexpress

Vietnam score 2-1 victory over Philippines at AFF Cup semi-finals

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Winning the first leg of AFF semifinals is expected to push Vietnam’s momentum for the second leg on home ground four days away.

Vietnam continued their successful run at the AFF Cup with a 2-1 semifinal win over the Philippines in Bacolod on Sunday.

Nguyen Anh Duc opened the scoreboard for Vietnam in the 11th minute with a header from a long pass, but Patrick Reichelt scored the equalizer at the second extra minute of the first half, from a tap in.

At the start of the second half, Phan Van Duc scored Vietnam’s second goal, which set the final result.

Two teams had almost equal ball possession and both launched many attacks against the other. Yet Vietnam took more serious shots and missed a couple close ones.

Four yellow cards were issued, including one for Vietnam’s Nguyen Quang Hai.

After the match, Vietnamese coach Park Hang-seo thanked his team for their fight spirit, but said they would have to concentrate better at the second leg of the semifinal four days away.

“This was not a perfect match. We conceded the first goal in the championship,” he said. “We will have to prepare carefully for the next match.”

Philippines’ coach Sven Goran Eriksson expressed confidence while praising Vietnam as a tough opponent with strong defense. He said Philippines left many loopholes in their defense and were not quick enough in attacks, but they could fix that.

“I believe we can beat Vietnam on their home ground to win the ticket to the final,” he said. “Football is always full of surprises.”

After the first leg match in the Philippines’s Panaad Stadium, two teams will meet for the second leg of the semifinal at the My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on December 6.

Source: Vnexpress

Vietcombank to apply Basel II standards

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The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has allowed the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) to apply Basel II standards one year earlier than the deadline initially set by the central bank.

Basel II is the second edition of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on banking supervision. Basel II comprises minimum capital requirements, supervisory review and market discipline. It aims to enhance competition and transparency in the banking system and make banks more resistant to market changes.

In order to realize the target of being the best risk management bank, Vietcombank’s Board of Directors has since 2014 directed a project to analyze the difference between the Basel II requirements and the status of Vietcombank. On this basis, it offers the Basel II Implementation Roadmap with a total of 82 initiatives to meet Basel II standards by the end of 2018 and meet the advanced approach in 2019.

The extensive Basel II program has the participation of more than 160 people from the bank’s headquarters and branches. The implementation of 82 initiatives under the roadmap has helped Vietcombank qualify to meet Basel II standards. At the same time, Vietcombank has basically fulfilled the important conditions for the application of Basel II according to the advanced method.

Vietcombank has further improved its governance culture and risk management system, adjusting business strategy to ensure the balance between business development and risk control in the direction of diversifying products, focusing on retail development and expanding non-credit activities.

The result is a strong demonstration of Vietcombank’s commitment to becoming one of the 100 largest banks in Asia and one of the world’s 300 largest financial banking groups.

At the same time, SBV also announced its approval for the Vietnam International Bank (VIB) to apply Basel II standards.

Three years ago, the SBV selected 10 commercial banks to pilot Basel II standards and set the deadline of 2020 for the banks to meet the standards. It was part of the central bank’s plan to restructure the domestic credit institution system, as risk management gaps remain a major reason for increasing bad debts.

The selected banks were Vietcombank, Vietinbank and BIDV, along with MB and Sacombank, Techcombank, ACB, VPBank, VIB and Maritime Bank.

VNS

Vietnam revealed what appears to new jersey for the 2019 season

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Vietnam have revealed what appears to be their new jersey for the 2019 season, Grand Sport Vietnam have announced. The Vietnamese jersey is set to be released in January 2019 itself, and fans cannot wait for the new shirt.

According to a report onFox Sport Asia, the national team jersey for 2019 looks to be made along the lines of the country’s stock colors, which is bright red in appearance, and almost surely will be a hit with the team’s fans.

The reason the 2019 jersey is supposed to do so well in the market, is because the 2018 version of the national team shirt did extraordinary sales, FOX Sports Asia understands, and are already sold out.

The ongoing AFF Suzuki Cup has seen mass participation from fans of Vietnam and the support has been something to behold. The Vietnam national team jerseys have been specially prevalent in all of this.

Grand Sport Vietnam, who are the official sponsors and retailers of the Vietnam national team, will release more information on the jersey as and when available.

Fox Sport Asia

Foreign buyers faced barriers to buying real estate in Vietnam

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Vietnam’s real estate market must solve many difficulties to increase the number of foreigners buying property in Vietnam, experts said.

“To promote foreigners’ trading of real estate products on the local market, Vietnam should increase the portion of property products available for foreigners in each project,” An Nguyen, director of CBRE Vietnam said.

“It is necessary to complete legal documents, circulars, procedures and support for foreigners in buying property products in Vietnam,” she said. “The nation needs to complete the process of issuing pink books and certificates of ownership for property belonging to foreigners.”

“Meanwhile, banks need to increase support for foreigners in property transactions,” she said.

Existing projects that want to attract more foreign customers should develop professional customer care processes for foreigners, she said.

When buying real estate in Vietnam, foreign buyers have often faced barriers, including the limitation of the law on the foreign ownership portion of each property project, An said.

“For apartment projects, foreigners can only own up to 30 per cent of the apartment volume, while for townhouse projects the portion is not to exceed 10 per cent or 250 units,” An said.

According to Ha Nguyen Manh, the former head of the construction ministry’s Housing and Market Management Department and deputy chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, Vietnam has many laws, decrees and circulars related to property trading. Foreign buyers often do not know all of the country’s laws.

The State should have a handbook for buyers to provide guidance on all steps and the state agencies implementing those steps, Hà said. That would make it easier for foreign buyers to navigate the property purchasing process.

“Vietnam has a legal framework allowing foreigners to buy and own property in the country,” An said. “However, the process has obstacles in the form of the language and laws for implementing legal documents.”

“In addition, foreign buyers have also had trouble getting support with money transfers from banks,” she said.

“Most projects of local investors have not had customer support teams to help foreign buyers during property transactions, making it hard for foreigners to buy from those projects.”

“Moreover, many foreign customers receiving houses or apartments have had problems getting certificates of ownership,” she said.

Stephen Wyatt, Country Head of JLL Vietnam, agreed and added that some projects in HCM City reported foreign buyers were interested in their projects but there were no available units for foreigner buyers due to the legal limits.

“The number of foreign buyers has totaled thousands of units, versus a few hundred recorded before the new law was introduced,” Wyatt said. “However, the issuance of pink books continued to be a challenge for foreign buyers.”

Since the law that allows foreigners to purchase property in Vietnam came into effect in 2015, the number of enquiries and transactions from foreign buyers increased significantly, Wyatt said.

JLL recently carried out an international marketing campaign for residential projects in Vietnam and received a considerable amount of interest and feedback from foreign investors from Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea and Japan, Wyatt said.

“Vietnam has many opportunities for real estate market development,” he said. “Some positive changes have taken place to the legal structure surrounding residential transaction activity, which will lure more foreign developers and investors into the local market, and to Vietnam’s law allowing foreign buyers to purchase and own residential property.”

The rights of foreigners over the property are the same as the rights of the locals – the property can be leased out, sold, inherited and used as collateral. In addition, tenure shall be for 50 years and can be renewed for another 50 years.

A safe and stable political situation and economic growth rate are also advantages for the market. Therefore, foreign real estate investors should be aware of Vietnam as a new market for investment, he said.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasing, contributing to surge in number of foreigners living and working in Vietnam. Attention to investment in property from foreign buyers will continue to increase, according to An.

On the market, the supply and quality of products are continuing to increase, bringing more options for buyers, including those buying for investment purposes.

In the near future, foreign buyers will continue to play a role in the market because they are able to buy property at a lower price than in their home countries.

According to CBRE, at projects that were offered by CBRE on the market, the number of foreign buyers in the 2017-18 period more than doubled in comparison with the number of transactions in the 2016-17 period. Many of the projects had sold their full quota of units for foreigners during their first market offering.

The Housing and Market Management Department reported that by 2017 there were 800 foreigners with certificates of ownership for property in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, there are 400,000 foreigners living and working in Vietnam. This number will increase in the future as Vietnam integrates further in the global economy, meaning foreigners’ demand for Vietnamese property will continue to rise.

Read full report on Vietnam News

Over 14 million foreign tourists visited Vietnam first 11 months, mainly China and South Korea

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The number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the first 11 months of 2018 is estimated at over 14 million, up 23.1 percent from the same period last year.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam’s Jan-Nov tourist numbers rose to 14.1 million, compared to 11.6 million recorded in the same period in 2017.

Among the 14 million foreign visitors, 77.8 percent were from Asia, mainly China and South Korea.

Notably, the number of South Korean visitors to Vietnam in the 11-month period increased as much as 46.6 percent year on year. In the meantime, visitors from Europe only increased 8.7 percent year-on-year.

Tuoi Tre Newspaper reported, the visa-free policy Vietnam grants to tourists from five European nations, which was extended by three years in July, continues to lure more holiday-makers from these markets to the country.

Particularly, visitors from the UK rose 5.2 percent, France 9.9 percent, Germany 6.8 percent, Spain 12.9 percent, and Italy 13.1 percent.

During the Jan-Nov period, the number of foreigners visiting Vietnam by air and road increased by 15.3 percent and 64.4 percent, respectively, while arrivals by sea went down by 11.3 percent.

With the strong performance in the 11-month period, Vietnam is expected to easily meet its target of welcoming 15 million foreign visitors in 2018. Total tourism numbers last year were 13 million.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said it will continue to push tourism promotion activities abroad in the last month of 2018.