Ho Chi Minh City stamps eight investment projects for a total $1 billion

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on March 19 handed over investment certificates to eight projects with the total investment capital of more than $1 billion at a conference to review the operations of a working group set up to promote the business climate in the city.

The conference was held by the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with the Department of Planning and Investment.

The conference for the preliminary review of the operations of the working group on investment promotion offered solutions for many delayed projects

The city handed over approvals for the investment planning of five projects with a combined investment capital of nearly VND15 trillion ($652.17 million) and granted construction licences for the Co Giang apartment building project in District 1 with an estimated investment sum of VND3 trillion ($130.43 million).

The municipal city also handed over a government resolution to Lotte Properties HCMC Co., Ltd., allowing it to execute the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project costing VND20.1 trillion ($873.9 million) at 2A functional area of Thu Thiem New Urban Area in Thu Duc City. Resolution No.195/NQ-CP dated December 31 cited that the government approved the proposal of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, the Government Inspectorate, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to assign Lotte Properties HCMC to remain the investor of the eco-smart city project.

Previously this project was delayed for review by the government because the project investor was assigned by Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee without a bid. However, via this resolution, the government has permitted Lotte to continue the project, claiming that Lotte was the single investor who submitted a proposal for this project.

Talking at the conference, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong, who is also the leader of the working group, said relevant agencies had been actively resolving obstacles for hundreds of projects which were delayed for years in the city.

The working group has given instructions on the removal of obstacles for 92 projects, including 51 real estate projects, 21 traffic infrastructure projects, 18 social infrastructure projects, and two production projects.

Of these, 35 projects have managed to resolve their obstacles so far. As for the remaining 57 projects, the competent agencies have assigned specialised agencies to consult the relevant ministries and agencies or asked for the prime minister’s directions to complete procedures to continue work on the projects.

At the conference, the group had directly received 108 opinions from developers and investors about their projects. These proposals will be leveraged and assigned to suitable authorities for further consideration, Phong said.

“The city hopes that in the coming time more projects will be solved through the group. This will encourage developers and investors and help increase their efficiency,” Phong said.

Phong added that the city committee will propose a plan to the government to add solutions to improve the investment environment of Ho Chi Minh City to the draft guidelines to implement Solution No.02/NQ-CP dated January 1, 2021 of the government on continuing the implementation of major tasks and solutions to improve the business environment and the national competitiveness in 2021.

In addition, the city also proposed that enterprises can only be inspected once a year for each facet of their operations. Competent bodies must combine all of their inspection requirements into one package to proceed with an inspection. Extraordinary inspections can only be held if a clear sign of violation is found.