Natuzzi italia dealers

Honda HR-V buyers in Hanoi have unexpectedly been offered sharp price discounts of VND90-130 million. Analysts said agents were trying to clear stock to prepare for the distribution of new versions in the time to come.

Honda HR-V sold in Vietnam are imports from Thailand. Since it was launched in the Vietnamese market in September 2018, sales have been modest as quoted prices of VND786-866 million are relatively high compared with rivals of the same B-class SUV segment.

Some showrooms are offering Nissan Navara EL and VL with a price discount of VND50 million, which means that customers can buy EL at VND609 million and VL at VND749 million. The discount is offered by retailers, not the manufacturer’s sale promotion program.

As for Hyundai models, sale agents in Hanoi have slashed selling prices by VND24-35 million for Hyundai Kona. The price decreases are sharper than the one applied in early March (VND7-18 million).

Analysts estimate that price reductions are being applied to about 25 car models in Vietnam. They also see a big difference between this price cut campaign and the one in the same period last year.

By this time last year, car prices of well-known brands such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes and Mazda dropped by VND200-300 million. Meanwhile, the price reductions are VND50-200 million now.

Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association reported the sale of 40,017 cars of different kinds in the first two months of the year, up by 21 percent over the same period last year.

As market demand has increased, car imports in the first two months of the year rose slightly by 3.3 percent, while the import value was up by 0.2 percent.

Asked about car prices in the second quarter, Nguyen Manh Tien from a Toyota sales agent in Hanoi said the car market would continue to see new price reduction campaigns in the first month of the second quarter.

Auto manufacturers are going to introduce new models for 2021 and sale agents have to clear old-generation cars to begin selling next-generation products.

Nguyen Tuan from one Ford sales agent thinks prices will still fall, but they will not be as high as hundreds of millions of dong as seen last year.

Chi Bao

A Vietnamese high school teacher in the Mekong Delta has turned to literature to solve the typical teenage behavioral issues she sees in her classroom on a daily basis.

Tran Huynh Nhi, a literature teacher in Vinh Long Province, believes that a strong book-reading habit is a key aspect of her students’ emotional and educational development.

To help her students develop that habit, Nhi has created the first-ever book club at Nguyen Thong High School in the provincial capital city of Vinh Long.

According to Nhi, participating in the book club has not only stopped many students from misbehaving in class, but also given them a safe space where they can set and discuss life goals and the daily issues they face as adolescents.

By offering various literature-related activities and helping students connect the lessons in each book to real events in their lives, the Nguyen Thong High School Book Club has become one of the most popular groups in the school.

Books are the solution

As a literature teacher, Nhi spends much of her time attempting to turn her students’ indifference toward books into a love of reading.

The book club is a means for her to achieve that goal, to use literature to help shape her students’ personalities and spark their curiosity.

At first, the club got off to a slow start.

Only a few students would come to meetings, more out of curiosity than a true interest in reading.

That was when Nhi began hosting activities and holding writing contests, hoping her efforts would help bring more students to the club’s monthly meetings.

And it worked.

The club grew and grew, with new faces showing up in each of the group’s get-togethers to discuss a pre-determined practical issue, usually related to a typical problem faced by teens.

Nhi also reached out to her colleagues at Nguyen Thong High School to suggest that they send their most misbehaving students to the club so that she could build a rapport with them and offer each a suitable book to fit their personality.

Each of these “problem students” is asked to read their book, summarize the reading, and offer a commentary with their thoughts and opinions.

Now, many of those members who had once been forced to attend the club’s meetings have fallen in love with reading and gladly come on their own.

“I was able to change their mindset. Now they no longer act out and cause trouble to their friends and teachers. They’ve learned to set plans and goals for their lives instead,” Nhi proudly said.

The teacher also uses books to give advice to students faced with pressures from family issues, dramatic events, exams, and bullying.

“Firstly, I talk to students to become their friends,” Nhi shared with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“Then I offer them a suitable book for their situation. For example, if a student is running into family issues, I give them a psychology book.”

Thanks to her efforts, the reading room is no longer just a reading room.

It is a counseling center and a safe zone for students to visit when they are dealing with a difficult problem or simply need someone to talk to.

Raising funds through paintings

The money for the books Nhi offers her students comes from extra cash she earns by selling her handmade paintings and calligraphy.

Each piece sells for VND70,000 (US$3) to 700,000 ($30) and every couple of months Nhi takes that cash and travels to Ho Chi Minh City to buy new books for the reading room.

Her artworks are not only sold to teachers, doctors, and engineers in Vinh Long, but also to residents of neighboring provinces, including Tien Giang and Dong Thap, and Can Tho City.

Her students help by selling paintings and handmade goods on the Internet, collecting recyclables to sell to scrap dealers, and holding bake sales.

Now, after almost two years, Nhi’s book club boasts around 2,000 different books with none having ever been lost, even though no one keeps track of which books are borrowed, save for a small notebook used by the club to sign books in and out.

“The students are very aware of our rules, so everyone keeps quiet in the reading room,” she said proudly.

Many students have said that their ability to express themselves both verbally and through writing has improved as well.

“Thanks to reading books at the book club, my vocabulary, ability to focus, critical thinking, and analytical skills have improved considerably,” Dang Thanh Truc, a 12th grader and a member of the book club, said.

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The news has caught attention from the public as this is believed to be a great opportunity for Vietnamese people to buy Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Cadilac, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Ferrari vehicles at reasonable prices.

As tax falls, more cars will arrive

Under the CPTPP trade agreement commitments, Vietnam offers preferential import tariffs to a certain number of used cars to be imported from CPTPP-member countries under a quota.

MOIT plans to organize the bidding session for the right to import used cars in May this year. Seventy-two used cars are allowed to be imported in 2021, including 36 cars with the cylinder capacity of over 3,000 cubic meters and 36 others with the cylinder capacity of 3,000 cubic meters or less.

The taxes on the used imports from CPTPP countries will be based on the preferential import tariff for 2019-2022 stipulated in the government Decree 57/2019, which will be mixed taxes, including percentage tax and fixed tax.

The import tax rate for quota-based cars with 9 or fewer seats is 52.5 percent in 2021, while the fixed taxes are $7,500 for less than 2,500 cc cars and $11,250 for cars with cylinder capacity of 2,500 cc or higher.

The tax rates are much lower than the rates for non-quota imports.

Car dealers estimate that a quota-based used car with cylinder capacity of 2,500 cc which has the declared price of $10,000 would have the pre-luxury tax cost price of $26,500 if counting the 52.5 percent and $11,250 taxes.

Meanwhile, a non-quota used car of the same kind would have the pre-luxury tax cost price of $35,000-40,000 because of the high tariffs of 150 percent or 200 percent, depending on models, and the high fixed tax of $10,000.

In principle, the higher value the used imports are, the bigger the benefits will be. As Covid-19 has had an impact all over the world, many wealthy people have sold their luxury cars to tighten their purse strings. This is a great opportunity to bring luxury Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Cadilac, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Ferrari cars to Vietnam.

Not easy to earn money

However, experts warned that it would be not easy for car dealers to make money.

In principle, importers will have to attend bidding for the right to import cars.

Meanwhile, car importing is a conditional business field implemented in accordance with Decree 116 released in 2017.

All businesses have the right to auction for tariff quotas to import used cars, but only the businesses which have licenses for car import can import cars. Importers have to make commitments on maintenance services and recalls, if necessary.

With the requirements, the businesses which have licenses for importing cars and have maintenance facilities will have advantages in bidding, while ‘empty handed’ businesses will be at a disadvantage.

When winning bids, they may authorize the enterprises with licenses to import for them. But this won’t be easy, because the enterprises with licenses may charge very high fees.

Used cars are the cars registered for circulation in exporting countries before they arrive in Vietnam. Of the 11 CPTPP member countries, six countries use right-hand driving cars, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, which don’t fit Vietnamese laws.

Therefore, Vietnamese businesses can only import quota-based left-hand driving cars from four CPTPP countries, namely Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

It will not be easy to find used cars which meet the requirements. The target countries are in America, which is far from Vietnam with high

MOIT organized an auction for tariff quotas for used car imports on August 14, 2020. Only two businesses won the bid. King F&B Co Ltd won the bid to import 10 cars, while Long Bien Investment Trade won for five cars. Meanwhile, the quota for 2020 was 66 products. Many enterprises with car import licenses did not attend the bid.

Nguyen Tuan from Thien An Phuc commented that the bidding for tariff quotas to import used cars is not attractive to Vietnamese businesses without licenses. Even if they win the bids, they will find it difficult to import cars.

Tuan said even if the tax rates are lower in 2021 and the used car prices in the world decrease, the business is still unattractive because of the strict regulations.

Tran Thuy

Land prices skyrocket

At the beginning of February 2020, the information that a large real estate corporation had a proposal for the local government to implement a project across 800 hectares in Binh Ba commune in Chau Duc district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province caused several real estate dealers and people in general to make a mad rush to buy land in the area.

Along Highway 56 on the section running through the Binh Ba commune, crowds of people gathered to sell and buy land, which suddenly caused a land boom in Binh Ba commune. Real estate agents searched for tracts of land for sale, causing prices to skyrocket. The land in Ngai Giao town, bordering My Xuan, or the land located along Highway 56 in Binh Ba commune, was targeted for large scale urban projects, and the selling price of land increased by nearly 100% to 200% within a few days.

Before the sudden spurt in land prices, the People’s Committee in Chau Duc District had issued specific information on the project, and at the same time, inspected and reviewed organizations dealing in illegal land divisions, sale of land in the area, and other such violations. This move by the local government quickly dispelled any form of misleading rumours to spread, and after only three weeks the fever to hike land prices cooled down, and crowds slowly diminished.

However, other factors began to play. Land prices began plummeting, households who had sold all their land and had no land for business were left in shock, and those who had not yet been able to sell were sorry. Some family members squabbled because they sold the land without discussing with each other. Conflicts arose in small businesses, and people who received sudden cash in hand took to heavy drinking, shopping or gambling. The whole village collapsed into degeneration.

Lately, Binh Phuoc province is expected to develop a project to build a dual-use airport, and the realtors are arriving in droves and turning many areas in An Khuong and Tan Loi communes in Hon Quan district into a hotbed of activities. In only about three days, the land prices here have increased from VND 100 mn to VND 300 mn or VND 400 mn per horizontal meter.

In some better locations, prices touched VND 450 mn per square meter. In An Khuong commune, Tan Loi, and neighboring areas where the airport project is expected, land prices have increased dramatically. Some plots of land that are about 1.5 km away from the location, and priced at VND 150 mn to VND 200 mn have shot up by billions of dong in just a few days. One land plot was traded for nearly VND 10 billion, and was re-transferred back and forth among several people, and the last person pegged the price at VND 28 bn.

Bogus projects

When large projects such as industrial parks, airports, and harbors are planned for construction in rural areas, they offer an opportunity to the local people to change their lives forever. People can be part of the development activities, such as selling of land, trading of commodities, vital services, and make good financial deals.

This was true when real projects such as Long Thanh airport, and Aqua City urban area were announced. However, there are also many projects that prove to be bogus and lack credible information. Such bogus projects can be termed into three categories, and there are three types of information that cause land prices to skyrocket. Intended circulation of fraud information; some unrealistic overblown schemes announced by authorities; and actual information on possible investment by professional and credible enterprises.

Dr. Huy Minh Quang