Vietnamnet bridge

Regarding the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this ministry does not only govern agriculture. Thus, this department is almost not part of creating links between farming and animal husbandry and the processing (food) and supporting industries (fertilizer, animal feed).

Previously, Vietnam had the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. As for the ministry’s “rural development”, the management of bridges, roads, schools and health stations all belong to other ministries.

This is a typical ministry of Vietnam, because it not only performs multi-sector management, but also performs multi-ministry management in the government. It is impossible to deny the achievements that this ministry has made for the economy over the years, but since it has to spread its forces to perform its work, which cover many fields, many jobs belonging to transportation have been left behind.

Thus, includes traffic congestion at all levels, on provincial roads, highways, expressways and in centers of many cities. It includes the outdated railroad industry, and maritime shipping capacity with low capacity for a country with a coastline of more than 3 thousand kilometers like Vietnam.

In order to be suitable with the economy that has been and will be renovated with increasing speed and scale according to the guidelines and policies set in the resolution of the XIII Congress of the Party, the completion of the state administrative apparatus is a requirement that needs to be addressed.

This is not aimed at merging ministries once again, but to define the right roles and tasks among ministries in the functions, tasks, powers and responsibilities of the system of state administrative agencies.

Recently, the Government proposed changing the name of the Ministry of Construction to “the Ministry of Construction, Urban Development and Housing”.

Dr. Dinh Duc Sinh

One afternoon in a village in the northern province of Hoa Binh, a group of kids playing together on the village road were interrupted by luxury cars passing by. Luxury cars are no longer strange to the kids. The parents of some of the kids have become “estate brokers” during their leisure. They take customers to see land and earn commissions.

Not located in the center of Hanoi, the land here is selling very well. A family sold a piece of land of several hundreds of square meters in the deep forest, where there was no road and no power grid, for VND1 billion (nearly $50,000). A similar plot of land was sold by another family for VND2 billion.

Local people did not expect to see a “land fever” in their hometown and even senior land investors did not think that suburban land would have such a price, with an increase of 200-500% in the past year. That is the difference in the land fever of 2021.

According to Batdongsan.com.vn, in the third quarter of 2020, the number of customers searching for real estate in the areas of Luong Son, Ky Son and Hoa Binh city of Hoa Binh Province grew 81%, 41% and 35%, respectively.

After the Lunar New Year holiday, land price increases appeared in many localities, leading to uncontrolled land fevers. According to the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, the price increased rapidly, 10% a month on average, and in some places, it rose 2-3 times in just 1-2 months.

Also, land with good infrastructure is around VND30-40 million/m2, but rural land without good infrastructure is priced at VND20-30 million/m2.

In many places, local authorities have to intervene to control the “land fever”. In this fever, land in the suburban areas where transport is convenient has seen the strongest increase in prices.

The sudden increase in land prices in rural areas in Vietnam is similar to what happened in the US nearly 100 years ago. In the UK, the trend of moving to rural areas was increasing rapidly. Many people decided to go back to their hometown to live permanently as they felt safe and secure there. The green gardens and the large space were more than enough for the people of this era.

In Japan, the government gives money to people to leave the city and return to their hometown with the aim of reviving the countryside in Japan.

Vietnam is no exception. The perception of a second home has also changed. Instead of buying apartments with an average area of only 50 m2, people pay more attention to suburban houses, at the same price but much larger, accompanied by green living space in harmony with nature.

In fact, it was not until the outbreak of Covid-19 that the trend of investing in garden houses blossomed. But since the early 2000s, the urban rich have flocked to rural areas to build farms to have fun at weekends.

However, this “fashion” boomed for a short time and then quickly faded away. More than 10 years ago, along with the expansion of Hanoi, the “fever” for suburban land broke out, pushing land prices up by 4 to 10 times but then the price for suburban land quickly fell back to the old level. Thousands of investors are still stuck with hill gardens of thousands of square meters in Thach That and Ba Vi (Hanoi), and Luong Son (Hoa Binh).

The report of the Vietnam Real Estate Association said that in the past people bought a house just to have a place to live, now they pay attention to the quality of accommodation, including local amenities and large green areas.

When the pandemic is over, the appeal of big cities will return. However, the more sparsely populated suburban areas will still be an option that many people are looking for. Remote work will be maintained even after the epidemic.

According to research by consulting firm PwC, working remotely has been successful during the pandemic. Of the 133 managers of large companies who participated in the survey, about 55% said they expected to allow employees to continue working remotely.

Looking at the market prospect, there is still a lot of potential to invest in rural land. In the future, Hanoi will continue to expand as it plans to turn the rural districts of Hoai Duc, Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Thanh Tri, and Dan Phuong into urban urban district in the next 5 years and have 3 more rural districts in the period 2026-2030. For those who have foresight, they will continue to look for a second home in the suburbs.

Duy Anh

Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hosted  reception on Wednesday in Hà Nội for Ambassador of New Zealand Tredene Cherie Dobson. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Wednesday held separate meetings in Hà Nội with ambassadors of New Zealand, Argentina, Pakistan and Romania.

At the reception for Ambassador of New Zealand Tredene Cherie Dobson, President Phúc said he hoped that the ambassador would raise initiatives to promote future cooperation between the two countries, especially when the bilateral relationship was developing intensively and extensively in the spirit of the strategic partnership.

He called on New Zealand to share its experience in COVID-19 combat, and suggested the two sides step up high-level visits after the pandemic is controlled.

The two countries also should foster trade ties, particularly the export of fruits, Phúc said, suggesting New Zealand further assist Việt Nam in education, especially English language teaching.

Việt Nam also wished to tighten coordination with New Zealand and relevant parties in realising the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and accelerating the ratification and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in the coming time, he added.

The ambassador pledged to make every effort to contribute to strengthening the bilateral relations, and support Vietnamese firms to access the New Zealand market.

Argentina’s Ambassador to Việt Nam Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino and President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Meeting with Argentina’s Ambassador Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino, President Phúc expressed the wish that the two countries would enhance all-level delegation exchanges and bring into full play dialogue and cooperation mechanisms to advance the bilateral comprehensive partnership to a new high.

The President called for joint efforts to press ahead with negotiations of a free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), and suggested both sides maintain their mutual support and cooperation at multilateral forums.

The ambassador said he hoped to coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to elevate the bilateral ties to a new level.

Pakistani Ambassador to Việt Nam Samina Mehtab shakes hands with Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

At a meeting with Pakistani Ambassador Samina Mehtab, the State leader expressed his hope that the diplomat would have measures to forge economic and trade ties between the two sides.

Việt Nam and Pakistan should optimise their strengths and beef up cooperation in trade, while tightening their collaboration at regional and multilateral forums, the President suggested.

Mehtab said she hoped that Việt Nam would serve as a bridge between Pakistan and ASEAN, and the sides would intensify tourism cooperation.

Romanian Ambassador to Việt Nam Cristina Romila presented her credentials to President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Receiving Romanian Ambassador Cristina Romila, Phúc said Việt Nam always attached importance to the traditional friendship with Romania, and bore in mind the country’s valuable support during Việt Nam’s struggles for national independence and national development.

He also praised Romania for its efforts in pushing ahead with the signing of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) when Romania held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Phúc asked the ambassador to convey his invitation to the Romanian President to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time.

Ambassador Romila, in reply, said that Việt Nam remained Romania’s important partner, and congratulated the Southeast Asian nation on its achievements in the fight against the pandemic. — VNS