Real life of a real estate agent

A worker of steel company Hoà Phát Group (HPG). Shares of HPG rose 3.3 per cent on Friday. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese shares stayed positive on Friday on the back of strong buying demand, contrasting the downturn of regional stock markets.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange gained 0.26 per cent to close at 1,168.47 points.

It had gained 0.29 per cent to close Thursday at 1,165.43 points.

More than 554.5 million shares were traded on the southern bourse, worth VNĐ14.9 trillion (US$642.3 million).

Market breadth was neutral with 216 gainers and 209 losers.

The recent sharp increase in US Treasury bond yields had a negative impact on Asian stock markets, causing many indices to fall deeply, said financial news site cafef.vn .

The Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 3.99 per cent on Friday, South Korea’s Kospi was down 2.8 per cent, Shanghai Composite declined 2.12 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hangseng Index dropped 3.64 per cent.

Vietnamese stock market also suffered strong selling pressure in the opening minutes on Friday as it decreased by 17 points. However, the strong bottom-fishing demand from domestic investors helped the VN-Index recover dramatically toward the end of the trading session.

The large-cap tracker VN30-Index gained 0.32 per cent to stay at 1,173.60 points.

Fourteen of the 30 large-cap stocks in the VN30 basket increased while 14 lost ground. Two stayed unchanged.

Notable gainers included steel maker Hoà Phát Group (HPG) with a large gain of more than 3 per cent.

Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BID), Military Bank (MBB), Phát Đạt  Real Estate Development Joint Stock Company (PDR), Phú Nhuận Jewelry (PNJ) and VPBank (VPB) all climbed more than 1 per cent.

On the other side, Vincom Retail (VRE), Khang Điền House (KDH), HDBank (HDB), Vinhomes (VHM) and Thành Thành Công Biên Hoà JSC (SBT) were the stocks that maintained the downtrend of more than 1 per cent decrease.

On the Hà Nội Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index rallied 1.23 per cent to end Friday at 249.22 points.

The northern market index had rallied 3.49 per cent to end Thursday at 246.20 points.

More than 123.3 million shares were traded on the northern market, worth VNĐ2.1 trillion.

“VN-Index remained in downtrend in most of the trading time, but MSCI’s increasing the proportion of Vietnamese stocks in its portfolio helped the index gain at the end of the session,” said BIDV Securities Co.

“Foreign investors continued to be net sellers on the HSX and net buyers on the HNX. Market breadth turned to equilibrium with increased liquidity compared to the previous session.

“According to our assessment, VN-Index is likely to continue fluctuating in the first week of March,” it said.

Foreign investors net sold VNĐ472.77 billion on HOSE, including Vinamilk (VNM) (VNĐ137.1 billion), Vincom Retail (VRE) (VNĐ75.4 billion) and Đất Xanh Group (DXG) (VNĐ46.1 billion). Foreigners were net buyers on the HNX with a value of VNĐ25.18 billion. — VNS

Representatives of Đà Nẵng present investment licences to seven investors at the Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Zones. More than US$280 million will be poured into the city’s IZ and Hi-tech Park. VNS Photo Quốc Dũng

ĐÀ NẴNG — Six investment licences and one investment proposal project at Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park and Industrial Zones worth more than US$280 million have been granted to domestic and foreign investors.

The Authority of Đà Nẵng’s industrial zones and high-tech park (DHPIZA) granted an investment proposal by Arevo Inc from the US for a 3D printer manufacture project at Đà Nẵng High-Tech Park with a total investment of US$135 million in a ceremony on Tuesday (February 23)

Head of the DHPIZA, Phạm Trường Sơn, said the project plans to produce composite and carbon fibre as well as software solutions and services for the 3D printing industry.

Arevo, based in Silicon Valley, is pioneering composite production through digitalisation and automation, and the world’s first high speed additive manufacturing system capable of creating sizable, continuous carbon fibre composite structures on demand.

Six investors, including three foreign direct investment (FDI) firms, were given licences for their projects at the Hi-Tech Park and other industrial zones.

United States Enterprises from Silicon Valley in the US will invest US$110million in a semiconductor project at the High-Tech Park, and it will commence construction of the first phase in the second quarter of 2021 to become operational in 2023.

It will focus on machining and fabrication specialists for quartz, ceramic and silicon and other materials such as aluminum oxide, mono and poly-crystalline silicon and sapphire.

The Đà Nẵng Sunshine Aerospace plant of the Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC) from the US is prepared for operation soon at the Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park. The plant was invested by UAC with total US$170 million. VNS Photo Công Thành

Two Japanese investors – Fujikin International Incorporated and EPE Packing Việt Nam – also received investment licences with total investment of more than US$35 million on Tuesday.

The city presented investment licences to three other domestic investors at Hòa Khánh Industrial Zone and Expanded Hòa Khánh IZ worth VNĐ73.4 billion ($3.2 million).

Vice chairman of the city’s people’s committee, Hồ Kỳ Minh said Đà Nẵng had been calling for investors from Silicon Valley and the US in healthcare, high-tech industries, artificial intelligence (AI), education, real estate and automation at the Hi-tech Park and Information Technology Park.

Hatsuta, a company from Japan completes its factory at the Đà Nẵng Hi-Tech Park for production. The park has attracted many investors from the US and Japan — the two major export markets of the city. VNS Photo Công Thành

The Government officially approved the Đà Nẵng supportive industries zone covering 58.5ha at the Hi-tech Park serving hi-tech domestic and foreign investors in the near future.

According to DHPIZA, the Hi-Tech Park alone has drawn 24 projects, of which 12 were FDI projects, worth total $545 million and VNĐ6.3 trillion ($274 million), respectively.

Six IZs and the hi-tech park have drawn 365 domestic projects worth VNĐ26.56 trillion ($1.15 billion) and 131 FDI projects worth $1.74 billion.

The Hi-Tech Park has been designed as a ‘green’ and hi-tech hub for investors, while Information Technology Park is planned as Việt Nam’s ‘Silicon Valley’. — VNS

A hotel put up on sale

On just one real estate website on February 22 many ads were listed.

A 4-star hotel on Vo Nguyen Giap street, 600 square meters, with 19 stories, 125 rooms and 2 conference rooms is offered at VND440 billion.

Hotels on the major streets of Ha Bong, Tran Bach Dang, Ho Nghinh, Vo Nguyen Giap and Ho Xuan Huong are offered at tens or hundreds of billions of dong.

Hoang Lam, the owner of a hotel on Tran Bach Dang street, said accommodation service providers have been hit hard by Covid-19.

“We have been struggling to survive by cutting costs. However, as capital is getting exhausted, hotel owners have to liquidate assets to pay bank debts,” he said.

“Selling hotels is unavoidable as there is no source of revenue, and the operation cost is high,” he said.

Do Van Hien from Dana Hotel, a broker, said a lot of hotels in Da Nang have been put up for sale since the second Covid-19 outbreak.

“The hotels for sale are 2-4-star. The prices have fallen by 20 percent and buyers are mostly from northern provinces,” Hien said.

According to Hien, 3-star hotels are priced at VND20-100 billion, while 4-star hotels are at least VND280 billion. The value of hotels depends on the locations, area, quality, numbers of rooms and brands.

The transactions of 4-5-star hotels, which have strong brands, are confidential. Hotel owners only work with prestigious brokers, and buyers have to prove their financial capability.

Hien said no one wanted to sell hotels in 2016-2019 because they could make a high profit from the business. But since 2020, guests are coming in dribs and drabs, and operation costs and loan interest rates are high.

Cao Tri Dung, chair of the Da Nang Tourism Association, admitted that tourism services have become nearly frozen and many hotels have been put up on sale.

“The pandemic resurgence before Tet blocked sources of guests. Ninety percent of clients cancelled or postponed plans to come to Da Nang,” he said.

He said this is common in a market economy, and that it is time to restructure the accommodation segment.

According to Da Nang People’s Committee, the total number of guests staying at accommodation facilities in the city in January 2021 was 251,094, a 65.6 percent decrease compared with the same period last year.

Ho Giap