Hcm city

Developers and authorities discuss the HCM City region property market at a workshop in the city yesterday (April 16). — VNS Photo Thu Hằng

HCM CITY — The skewed concentration of property projects in some areas of HCM City has resulted in an imbalance in the development of satellite cities and causes a strain on the transport system, a workshop heard in the city yesterday .

In 2017 the Government approved a master plan for the period until 2030 for the HCM City region, which covers an area of more than 30,000 square metres comprising HCM City and the seven surrounding provinces of Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu, Bình Dương, Bình Phước, Tây Ninh, Long An, Đồng Nai, and Tiền Giang.

It creates a legal framework to attract investment in satellite cities and real estate markets in outlying areas, Nguyễn Tuấn Anh, editor-in-chief of Nhà đầu tư (Investor) magazine, told the workshop.

New regulations in the city to tighten the issue of licences to property projects resulted in a drastic drop in supply, boosting the real estate markets in neighbouring provinces, he said.

But there is an imbalance in the development of satellite cities, affecting the implementation of the master plan, he said.

Lê Đỗ Mười, head of the Transport Development and Strategy Institute, said investment in traffic infrastructure is vital to ensure connectivity between HCM City and satellite cities and synchronised transportation.

Improving traffic infrastructure is now a priority, he said.

In recent years infrastructure for travel between the city and provinces in the HCM City region has improved, resulting in the mushrooming of new urban areas, he said.

This has enabled investments to flow easier into neighbouring provinces, he said.

But a high concentration of property and urban development projects to the east of the city, including in Bình Dương and Đồng Nai provinces, has resulted in skewed development and placed a strain on transport systems in its gateways.

Nguyễn Hoàng, R&D director at DKRA Vietnam, said the HCM City real estate market has for years spilt over into its neighbouring provinces, and their markets thus have close links and affect each other.

Last year the market in neighbouring provinces saw positive growth, which made up for the decline in all segments in HCM City, he added. — VNS

Four more trains for Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro project in HCM City are expected to be imported into the city from Japan between May and July this year.

According to Huynh Hong Thanh, deputy head of the Management Authority for Urban Railways of HCM City, two would arrive in HCM City in May, while the remainder would be brought to the city in July.

The trains have been scheduled for the trial run by the end of this year on the elevated section from Binh Thai Junction to Long Binh Deport.

The first train of Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line arrived in HCM City in October last year

Thanh added that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the import of the project’s equipment and machines from countries such as Germany, Spain, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan was slowed. The pandemic has also affected the entry of foreign experts. Because of Covid-19, some bidding packages of the project were 4-8 months behind schedule. At present, around 83.63% of the project has been finished. Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien, the first metro line in HCM City, has 17 trains. The first was transported to HCM City from Japan in October last year. Each train comprises three carriages measuring 61.5 metres long allowing a maximum speed of 110 kilometres per hour. It can transport 930 passengers. The 20-km Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien metro line which had an initial investment of VND17.38 trillion consists of 14 stations along 19.7 kilometres, including a 2.6-kilometre underground section and 17.1 kilometres of elevated tracks.

People queue at the security check area at Tan Son Nhat International Airport on April 15.

Thousands of people lined up at the airport’s security check area on Friday. Long queues were also seen at the check-in desks and the boarding gates.

A passenger, Nguyen Huu Loi said that he was waiting for a flight to Quang Binh Province. He heard that the airport is usually crowded during the morning so his family chose to fly at noon. However, he was shocked to see the crowds.

“We had to queue over 30 minutes to get to the security check,” Loi said.

A representative at the airport said that the number of passengers had sharply increased in recent weeks, especially during peak hours.

On Thursday, Tan Son Nhat Airport issued a warning on the rising number of passengers during morning hours and weekends. Passengers are advised to arrive at the airport at least two hours ahead of departure time for check-in. Passengers are also requested to make health declarations and tightly follow other regulations on Covid-19 prevention and control.