On the afternoon of February 20, Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, along with relevant departments and branches, had a direct meeting with investors of 7 projects facing difficulties in Ho Chi Minh City to listen and consider solutions.
Stuck, stagnant for many years
The projects that the City People's Committee is considering to remove obstacles include: the commercial center and luxury apartment project on Ben Nghe Street (Tan Thuan Dong Ward, District 7); the Tan Thang sports and residential complex (Son Ky Ward, Tan Phu District); the Cuu Long apartment project (Ward 1, District 4); the Song Viet complex (Thu Thiem new urban area, Thu Duc City), the Thien Ly residential area (Phuoc Long B Ward, Thu Duc City), the 30.2-hectare project in Binh Khanh Ward (Thu Duc City) and the Co Giang apartment project (Co Giang Ward, District 1).
These projects mainly encounter problems related to apartment opening procedures, problems in calculating land tax, construction permits, re-determining land prices, and problems with inspections and checks. Some projects have encountered problems and stagnation for many years and have not yet been resolved.
A typical example is the project of the commercial center and high-end apartments on Ben Nghe Street (Asiana Riverside, District 7) invested by Gotec Vietnam Co., Ltd. since 2018. The project has an area of 10,076.6 m2, including 2 blocks, 21 floors high with about 500 apartments; to date, the foundation, basement and first floor have been completed, the next floors are being built but have not been granted a license to open for sale. The reason is that the enterprise has submitted 3 applications to request a notice of housing eligibility for sale and lease-purchase for commercial housing, but the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City has returned the application all the time with the reason of reviewing the transfer of land use purposes. Up to this point, the company's immediate losses have amounted to about 1,052 billion VND.
The Song Viet Complex Project (Thu Duc City) is invested by Quoc Loc Phat Company (a member of Son Kim Land). The project has a scale of 4.8 hectares, and is stuck in the process of granting a certificate of eligibility to sell and lease-purchase future housing for the project. The reason is due to the general planning of the Thu Thiem new urban area, not the investor's fault.
The 30.2-hectare project in Binh Khanh Ward (Thu Duc City) invested by the 21st Century International Development Company Limited was later acquired by Novaland Group under the commercial name The Water Bay. The project is currently under temporary suspension for inspection and examination. In 2020, Novaland Group reported that it had invested up to VND 6,000 billion in the project but it was not implemented. Therefore, the company has repeatedly asked the Ministry of Construction to continue implementing this residential project.
The Co Giang apartment project (District 1) has been granted investment approval by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. Novaland Group is the project developer with the commercial name Grand Manhattan and has implemented construction up to the 28th floor, but is stuck in the stage of granting an investment certificate and enjoys incentives such as exemption from land use fees for the entire allocated land area. Because this is a project to renovate and rebuild old apartments, the investor must compensate for additional common use areas.
The Co Giang apartment project (Co Giang ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) is facing difficulties in granting investment certificates and enjoying incentives such as exemption from land use fees. Photo: HOANG TRIEU
Keep waiting
The Tan Thang Cultural, Sports and Residential Complex Project (Celadon City, Tan Phu District) has a scale of 82.5 hectares, approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee for Saigon Thuong Tin Tan Thang Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company as the investor. Afterwards, Gamuda Land Joint Stock Company acquired the majority of shares of Saigon Thuong Tin Tan Thang Real Estate Investment Joint Stock Company to own this project.
According to Gamuda Land, when buying back the shares, the old investor said that they would be exempted from taxes and they would only pay the recognized portion. However, the city later asked the new investor to pay more than VND400 billion in taxes because the company did not directly pay compensation and resettlement support but only bought back the shares, so compensation and resettlement costs could not be deducted from land use fees and project land rents. Due to not agreeing to pay taxes, the project has been stalled for a long time, and Gamuda Land was listed as owing more than VND541 billion in taxes, including principal and interest.
Speaking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper right after the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gotec Vietnam, commented that the meeting took place in a spirit of openness, and that the city leaders and departments and branches had listened to reports from businesses. "The city leaders did not immediately resolve the problems but promised to consider and respond soon. Although there is no way out, I really hope for good results, so that the project can continue to be implemented and products can be sold to the market, otherwise it will cause great damage to businesses" - Mr. Viet Anh expressed.
Novaland also said that the company hopes that after the meeting, city leaders will listen and find ways to resolve difficulties so that projects can be implemented, creating conditions for businesses to overcome difficulties. A representative of Quoc Loc Phat Company also said that the meeting has not reached any conclusions and needs to wait for further opinions from city leaders.
According to Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, most of the problems of the projects at the meeting were difficult cases, so they took a long time and were difficult to solve. Therefore, the meeting only stopped at the level of listening and considering, then there was a conclusion, but it was difficult to answer the enterprises immediately. Not to mention, there were problems under the central authority, so they had to be submitted for opinions.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/chu-dau-tu-7-du-an-mong-som-thao-go-vuong-mac-20230220220219004.htm
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