U.S. firms seek to invest in Danang real estate

HCMC – More than 40 enterprises from the U.S. sought investment opportunities in the real estate sector in Danang City at an investment forum held in the city on April 2. 

The Danang – U.S. Investment Forum was jointly held by the Danang Investment Promotion Agency (IPA Danang) and the Vietnamese National Association of Real Estate Professionals (VNARP) in the U.S., with an aim to help enterprises sound out investment opportunities and forge partnerships. In addition to 40 U.S. companies, the forum was attended by 25 real estate firms in Danang.

At the forum, a representative of U.S.-based Keller Williams Silicon City, a member of VNARP, asked the Danang City government to allow the company to study and invest in a 500-hectare complex providing education, leisure and healthcare services in Hoa Vang District.

Keller William Silicon City has earlier inked a cooperative agreement with Danang Construction Material and House - Building JSC to develop some components of the project.

Hilda Ramirez, CEO of Keller William Silicon City, said she was impressed by Danang’s rapid growth, especially in the resort sector. She and some overseas Vietnamese businessmen have plans to return to Vietnam in the coming time for investment in Danang.

See more: Benefits of Investors in Setting up a Business in Da Nang

Some U.S. companies are interested in projects that the Danang government is calling for investment in and incentives offered by the Danang Hi-Tech Park (DHTP). Jonathan George Hanhan, senior vice president of CSR Commercial Real Estate Service, said his company is interested in the Silicon Valley project in DHTP.

Huynh Duc Tho, chairman of Danang, said the city is promoting investment in tourism and information technology, which have much room for real estate investment.

IPA Danang and the Danang Department of Construction will do their best to support U.S. firms, Tho said, adding that DHTP is offering the best tax incentives in Vietnam.

In addition to learning more about the investment environment in Danang, overseas Vietnamese businessmen also called on Vietnamese businesses to penetrate the U.S. real estate market.

Evan Phong Huynh, executive director of D1 Gateway for Silicon Valley, called on Vietnamese enterprises to invest in the company’s project to develop a US$100 million complex gathering Asian businesses in the Silicon Valley.

Lieu Nguyen, member of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, said Virginia and Washington D.C. are the promising land for Vietnamese real estate developers.

According to Michael Q. Le, general director of Robert Mullins International, the U.S. investment policies have become more favorable for Vietnamese investors. As president of the Thua Thien-Hue Union of Friendship Organizations in the U.S., he pledged to support Vietnamese enterprises to do business in the U.S.

The Danang – U.S. Investment Forum is part of the Vietnam trip that will last until April 6 of a U.S. business delegation. After the forum, the U.S. businesses would visit Quang Nam Province.

At present, there are 52 projects invested by U.S. firms in Danang, with investment capital totaling more than US$518 million, accounting for over 16% of the city’s total foreign direct investment (FDI). U.S. firms mainly invest in real estate, finance, trade, tourism, education and hi-tech sectors.

Source: The SaigonTimes

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How to Prepare Application for Anti-dumping Review

The review of anti-dumping measures on imported goods will be conducted by Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA) 12 month from the decision by Ministry of Trade and Commerce is issued

Application dossiers requesting for review of imposition of anti-dumping measures shall including (i) Application and (ii) Other documents and information deemed necessary by the requesting party, in Public and Limited version to be submitted to VCA.

The followings information must be provided by the requesting party at the submission of application for review of the anti-dumping duty imposition:

The status of dumping of imports

This section focuses on the change in the dumping status of imports into Vietnam during the period from the imposition of anti-dumping duty to the time the applicant submits the application.

The information to be provided includes, but is not limited to, expanding / narrowing the scope of the goods subject to the imposition of anti-dumping measures; Type / type of goods, producer / exporter selected to calculate the change in dumping margin, change in margin of dumping, normal price, export price for one or a group of foreign producers/ exporter (Note: The method of calculating the data must be consistent with the methodology which the VCA has guided in the dossier requesting the application of anti-dumping measures.)

Material damages or threaten to material damages

This section identifies evidence of substantial damages / threat of material damages to the domestic industry caused by imported goods dumped into Vietnam for investigation by the VCA, decide according to the actual situation.

Requesting party should provide the following information:

– The situation of importing goods

Information and data on the situation of import of goods subject to anti-dumping measures (amount and value) from the date of application of the anti-dumping measure before the submission of the dossier according to the set form and two (02) years earlier.

– Market share of similar goods domestically produced and imported goods

Comparative information on market share of domestically produced and imported goods shall be subject to dumping from the time of imposition of tax prior to the filing of the application in the form and the previous two (02) years.

– Impact of imports on domestic prices

Information on the impact of imported goods on the prices of domestically produced goods from the time of imposition of tax prior to the submission of dossiers according to the set form and two (02) years earlier.

– The situation of production and business activities of the domestic manufacturing industry

Information on production and business activities of the manufacturing industry from the date of application of the tax prior to the date of application and two (2) years before.

– Invest in upgrading machines and infrastructure to meet domestic demand

Information on fundamental changes in machinery and factory infrastructure is related to changes in capacity and capacity to meet the needs of the Vietnamese market from the time of application of the tax before submission and two (02) years earlier of the domestic industry. Data should be shown in the following table:

Current situation of employers in the domestic industry

Number of employees (or estimated number) engaged in the production, management and distribution of domestically produced goods subject of the investigation.

Inventory fluctuations

The amount and value of inventory requested for the application of the measure anti- dumping domestic production.

Scope of goods subject to anti-dumping measures

– Purpose, reason for requesting exclusion of products imported by the company from the scope of application of anti-dumping measures.

– Information on products the company proposes to exclude from the scope of application of anti-dumping measures: HS code, technical specifications, technology, use purpose, production process, …

– The list of domestic enterprises producing the same products as the imported products of the company.

– List of other importing enterprises jointly importing the company’s proposed goods for exclusion.

– Documents indicating the difference between the company’s products proposed exclusion and similar products domestically produced. If there are quality comparisons, please indicate the source of these quality criteria (e.g.Vietnamese standards sets, internationally recognized standards …).

– Information on alternative sources of imports, the difference between those sources.

– Other information, documents and evidence that the company deems appropriate to explain the exclusion of the product is appropriate.

How ANT Lawyers Could Help Your Business?

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Process of Anti-dumping Review in Vietnam

After 12 month from the day on which the decision on imposition of anti-dumping measures is issued, the Vietnam Minister of Industry and Trade may decide to review anti-dumping measures at the request of one or multiple interested parties and evidence provided by them.

The time limit for the review is 06 months from the day on which the decision on review is issued, with a possible extension up to 3 months if necessary.

Within 60 days before the end of one year from the date of issuance of the decision on the imposition of official anti-dumping measures, the related parties may submit the application dossiers for review of anti-dumping measures.

1. Subject of the application:

The following related parties shall have right to submit the application for review of the anti-dumping measures imposition:

• Domestic producers;

• Foreign producers and exporters may submit dossiers for review of the imposition of official anti-dumping measures against themselves;

• Importers of goods subject to anti-dumping measures;

• Governments of foreign producers and exporters which may submit dossiers for review of the imposition of official anti-dumping measures of such foreign producers and exporters.

2. Contents of the application

Contents of the review at the request of related parties

• The dumping margin, the level of subsidy of one, some or all of the foreign producers and exporters;

• Commitments to eliminate dumping and subsidies of one, some or all of the foreign producers and exporters who commit;

• Damages of the domestic industry and the causal relationship between the dumping on goods/ good subsidies of relevant foreign producers and exporters and the damage to domestic industry;

• Scope of imposition of anti-dumping measure and countervailing measure.

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Why foreigners aren't buying houses in Vietnam

There's a wealth of expats and overseas Vietnamese interested in the real estate market, but red tape is putting them off.

“Only a few expats are able to buy houses in Vietnam because there are still so many legal barriers,” said real estate manager Nguyen Chien Thang, counting on his fingers the number of potential foreign buyers who had visited the housing developments he's in charge of in Hanoi over the past two years.

Thang said there is foreign interest in Vietnam's housing market, but it often fades due to the complicated rules and excessive paperwork.

“Expats do not have a clear understanding of the legal procedures here, while some administrative agencies are not used to dealing with foreign buyers,” he said.

Official estimates vary greatly. The Ministry of Construction was widely quoted by local media last August as saying that 750 foreigners had bought houses in Vietnam since a new housing law came into effect two years before. That’s six times more than before, the ministry said in a statement, claiming that the new procedures were “really clear and open.”

The 2015 Housing Law allows foreign investment funds, foreigners with valid visas and international firms operating in Vietnam and overseas to buy unlimited residential properties with leaseholds of 50 years.

Before that they had been only eligible to buy one apartment providing they were either married to a Vietnamese national, held a managerial position or had contributed to the country.

However, earlier this week, Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Construction said only 15 foreigners had bought houses in Vietnam since the new law came into effect.

While the data remains strikingly conflicting, industry insiders have taken the ministry’s statement with a grain of salt.

Sitting in his office overlooking Hanoi’s skyscraper-dotted West Lake, Thang’s own estimate stands in the hundreds, and that’s counting since 2009 when Vietnam first opened its real estate market to foreigners. With 80,000 expats and more than four million overseas Vietnamese, that’s virtually an untapped gold mine.

“The expat community living and working in Vietnam is large, while the number of overseas Vietnamese is huge,” he said. “Many of them have money and want to own houses in the country, but only a small number are able to do it.”

The shortage of publicized projects that foreigners are eligible to buy is one of the biggest obstacles, according to industry insiders.

According to the Housing Law, developers can sell a maximum of 30 percent of units in an apartment building to foreigners, and a maximum of 250 houses in a ward. Areas considered sensitive to national defense and security are off-limits to foreign buyers.

Given the restrictions, authorities are required to publicize housing projects eligible for sale to foreigners, but in practice they don’t.

Another barrier facing foreigners and overseas Vietnamese is the lack of property title insurance, a standard document issued in many countries, said economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, who is an overseas Vietnamese.

Because of this, Hieu, who returned home eight years ago after living in the U.S. for 30 years, has been unable to buy a house.

“Unlike Vietnamese people who buy houses with their savings, expats often need bank loans," he said. “However, foreign banks will only offer a mortgage if their customers can provide property title insurance, which is unavailable in Vietnam, so they are unable to access credit.”

Hieu said many overseas Vietnamese want to buy houses in their home country. “Many old people buy houses so they can spend the rest of their lives in their homeland, while young people want to invest in the lucrative property sector.”

Hot market

In a move aimed at attracting more foreign buyers, the Ministry of Planning and Investment tabled a draft law in August suggesting that foreigners should be offered leaseholds of 99 years in special economic zones.

Vietnam has 18 special economic zones and is developing more in Quang Ninh Province near the Chinese border, the central province of Khanh Hoa, and Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang.

Industry insiders believe that removing more barriers would create more interest in the local housing market.

Vietnam is becoming one of the region’s hottest property markets for Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors, as prices continue to go through the roof at home, according to the South China Morning Post.

More than 300 potential individual investors recently attended a two-day Vietnam property investment seminar in Hong Kong .

Encouraged by fast economic growth, supportive government policies and low entry costs, housing prices in the country’s two largest cities, Saigon and Hanoi, have seen considerable growth in recent years.

In Saigon, new apartment prices grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, and 7.3 percent in Hanoi, data from real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle shows.

It now forecasts 8 to 10 percent annual growth in residential value in the country’s major cities this year.

“On the back of its economic improvement and with a GDP target of 6.7 percent in 2017, market sentiment is very positive,” said Stephen Wyatt, the country head of JLL Vietnam.

“Foreign buyers typically like the new urban districts such as Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2 and District 7,” he said. “And many investors from mainland China are hoping to see these cities replicate the same growth as Beijing and Shanghai.”

There is also a trend to buy second homes in coastal areas such as Da Nang, he added.

Neil Jensen, a financial industrial worker from Malaysia, said Vietnam would be an ideal property market for investors if legal procedures are improved.

He is looking to buy a condominium in Saigon to lease to overseas workers there.

“I will do it only when legal procedures are clearer and opener," Jensen, 34, said. "I don’t want to take risks.”

Source: evnexpress

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