Housing markets most at risk coronavirus

Hanoi (VNA) – A major supplier in Laos has said that petrol supplies in this country may face “some gaps” after the government held an emergency meeting to address soaring prices and panic buying. Consumers had to queue for hours to stock up on fuel as many gas stations were closed last week, media reported, noting that Laos relies on imports from neighbouring Thailand for most of its petroleum. Thai oil and gas firm PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc, which operates 53 gas stations in Laos , said it plans to distribute fuel as usual, but that there may be "gaps". Last week, the Vientiane Times said a weakened kip currency, high inflation, and an unstable global oil market are making it hard for fuel importers to meet public demand. The Lao Government played down the situation, saying it was "not that much of a crisis", but held an emergency meeting and asked the public not to panic./. VNA … [Read more...] about Laos faces risk of fuel shortage

Two customers do online shopping on an e-commerce platform. — Photo vneconomy.vn HÀ NỘI — Smuggled, counterfeit and low-quality products have begun to spread rapidly on e-commerce platforms as the absence of physical product touch in online shopping puts buyers at a disadvantage. Nguyễn Đức Lê, deputy director of the Professional Affairs Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), admitted that deceptive trade practices have been rising steadily in recent years. “Bad vendors use genuine products for advertisements but deliver low-quality or second-hand products to buyers, depriving them of the warranty rights,” he said. Lê Mai Hương, an enthusiastic online shopper in Hà Nội, shared her bad experience when shopping online with Việt Nam News . “In my experience, shoppers should not buy online stuff sold at prices far lower than market prices, notably cosmetics and drugs, as they are almost fake products. In addition, for clothes and consumer goods, many times … [Read more...] about Bad vendors put e-commerce at risk

Kenneth Atkinson-Vice chairman, Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board However, there is no separate body of law governing condotels and in most locations where they have been constructed it is clear that such developments cannot be issued with pink books for individual units, so ownership ultimately rests with the developers, with a lease term not extending beyond 50 years (70 years can be permitted). In addition, many buyers have been lured by guaranteed returns of 8-12 per cent for the 10 years. Warnings of potential future problems sounded from 2017, but due to the cyclical nature of tourism and potential disruptions to inbound tourists, these were largely ignored and we have already seen failures of such projects like Cocobay and other developers now unable to meet their guaranteed return commitments and for certain several more to come. Now, we have around 240 tourism real estate projects and over 114,000 condotel units, and Vietnam has the largest pipeline of tourism-related … [Read more...] about Taking the right approach to the condotel legislation conundrum

employee Le Van Nhi of Coats Phong Phu Company A few days ago, employee Le Van Nhi of Coats Phong Phu Company who is living in a rented house at 40/19A in Street No.176 in Phuoc Long A Ward in Thu Duc City) was informed that he was eligible for accommodation rent support. Mr. Nhi said that the form is made by the company and he just needs to fill in all the information, choose a payment method, then give it to the landlords to sign for confirmation. Mr. Nguyen Quoc An, an employee of a garment company at a rented house at 33 Dinh Cung Vien in Phuoc Long A Ward of Thu Duc City said that he is eligible for VND500,000 month support. According to the regulations, employees working at enterprises will be supported at VND500,000 a person each month, while an employee returning to the labor market will be supported VND1 million a month. The maximum support period does not exceed three months. Up to now, many localities have received a list of workers who need support from … [Read more...] about HCMC supporting rents for workers

The bank is collecting feedback on its draft circular to replace the current version with stricter conditions for receiving short-term foreign loans to ensure a national debt limit. The draft will allow Vietnamese businesses to access short-term foreign loans for paying debt, but not for potentially risky purposes like trading stock and real estate. This is because once the stock and real estate market grows way above its intrinsic value, there would be a high chance of creating an asset bubble, causing economic instability. The central bank plans to ban the use of short-term foreign loans to buy projects or stakes in them, since mergers and acquisitions involve long-term investment and commitment. It also plans to ban companies using short-term foreign loans to acquire projects or stakes in projects, as mergers and acquisitions are long-term activities. Short-term loans could result in liquidity risks if used for medium- and long-term purposes, it explained. Companies may … [Read more...] about Central bank limits foreign loans for trading stock, real estate

Vietnam has risen in official pandemic recovery indices thanks to production continuity and vaccinations, Photo: Le Toan The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released in April its World Economic Outlook report, stating that global growth is projected to slow from an estimated 6.1 per cent in 2021 to 3.6 per cent in 2022 and 2023. This is 0.8 and 0.2 percentage points lower for 2022 and 2023 than projected in January. “Beyond 2023, global growth is forecast to decline to about 3.3 per cent over the medium term. War-induced commodity price increases and broadening price pressures have led to 2022 inflation projections of 5.7 per cent in advanced economies and 8.7 per cent in emerging market and developing economies - 1.8 and 2.8 percentage points higher than projected last January,” the report said. “Multilateral efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis, prevent further economic fragmentation, maintain global liquidity, manage debt distress, tackle climate change, and end … [Read more...] about Measures put recovery on the front foot

Container scarcity, input material price rises, and travel restrictions are just some of the factors damaging supply chains, Photo: Le Toan Demonstrating the wide reach that geopolitical tensions and the drag from global supply chain disruptions are causing worldwide, lowered prospects for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Asia-Pacific are being projected for the rest of the year, after the number of such deals fell in the first several months of 2022. A total of 123 finance sector M&A deals were reported in the January-to-March quarter, compared with 165 in the same period of last year, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks, and inflation concerns slowed down deal-making in the first quarter. “We expect to see deals start and stop as companies try to time when best to take the plunge,” said Sophie Mathur, partner and Asia head of corporate at law firm Linklaters. Despite the emerging opportunities, … [Read more...] about Reset required for supply chain woes

Patrick Lenain-Former assistant director Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Pressures on global supply chains are also a key headwind in the recovery. Supply chain disruptions are not new: health precautions imposed over the last two years have already caused major bottlenecks. Major shipping hubs such as Los Angeles and Shanghai have operated with reduced capacity, with long waiting times to get shipments processed across the borders. With the pandemic fading away, congestion in international supply chains has eased a bit since December 2021. In the United States, government agencies have worked with shippers, retailers, and port authorities to speed up the movement of goods. For instance, ships waiting to unload containers in US ports have declined by 35 per cent, thanks to 24/7 operations and large recruitment of workers. However, the lack of US truck drivers has emerged as a new problem. Action was taken to hire 30,000 additional truck drivers, … [Read more...] about Will international stress disrupt Vietnam’s economic recovery?

Pham Viet Tuan-Associate, Indochine Counsel Many of the negative risks arise because of the complicated Vietnamese land laws, which prevent not only foreign investors but also local developers from developing projects. This article will give some hints on how they could properly tackle issues related to land in property project development through the contribution of land. In the Vietnamese real estate market, it is common for a property developer to have land but not the budget or experience/resources needed to develop the project. In this case, such developers might seek other ways to conduct their business plan. Some solutions may be to secure a loan facility from a bank; to cooperate with other developers who have experience/resources in the project development; or to call for financial aid from funds, and foreign/local investors or to issue bonds in the capital market. Each solution has its pros and cons. From a foreign perspective, project land is essential to project … [Read more...] about Making better decisions in real estate

Shanghai announced its first new COVID-19 cases outside quarantined areas in five days on Friday, triggering stricter curbs and mass testing in one district but plans to end a prolonged city-wide lockdown on June 1 appeared on track. The commercial hub of 25 million found three new cases in the same family in Qingpu district. All had taken three doses of vaccine and their infections were discovered during regular testing, authorities said. The three had not left their district town over the past 14 days but had visited at least four places, including a supermarket, all of which were sealed off and were being disinfected, authorities said. The area's more than 200,000 people had been re-tested and all results were negative. "Our district will follow the precise prevention and control measures, do a good job in epidemic prevention and control and achieve dynamic clearing as soon as possible," Zhang Yan, deputy head of Qingpu district, told an online news conference. Other … [Read more...] about Shanghai finds cases after five days of ‘zero COVID’ but end of lockdown on track