Former chairman of Danang City Tran Van Minh and his successor, Van Huu Chien, were sentenced to jail terms of 17 and 12 years, respectively, for their involvement in the acquisition of public land by Phan Van Anh Vu.

The local estate market will not see a bubble burst this year, and a land price upsurge is expected in planned special economic zones and new urban areas, the Ministry of Construction told a press briefing on January 2.

The prime minister has just signed a decision approving the establishment of an information technology park in Danang City, which is expected to be modeled after the United States’ Silicon Valley.

The government of Tan Quy Tay Commune and the relevant agencies of Binh Chanh District in HCMC on January 7 started undoing construction work on the illegal Gia Trang Tram Chim Resort project, per Thanh Nien newspaper.

The Government Inspectorate will announce the revised zoning boundaries of five adjacent quarters affected by the controversial Thu Thiem New Urban Area project in District 2, HCMC, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The transport authority of HCMC has proposed the use of ODA loans to develop the first phase of the city’s fifth metro line. Meanwhile, the first and second metro line projects are still facing delays.

Many localities have raised their land prices by up to 70%, while on the national scale the Government is expected to issue a new price framework, driving up prices by 30%.

The U.S. business community will help HCMC tackle pressing urban issues, especially transport infrastructure and waste treatment, according to Amanda Rasmussen, chairwoman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam.

The number of apartments eligible for sale in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is estimated to fall 25% this year, reaching 43,000 units, according to a report by property platform batdongsan.com.vn.

Leading Singapore-based boutique grocery and butcher brand Ryan’s Grocery officially inaugurated on December 7 its first organic food store in Vietnam at 200 Pasteur, Ward 6, District 3.

Chairman of Hanoi City Nguyen Duc Chung has reaffirmed the city government’s commitment to make life easy for foreign investors to do business in the capital, including those from Japan.

Amazon Global Selling has announced an MOU with Ministry of Industry and Trade and a cooperation deal with T&T Group with the support of SHB Bank to better assist Vietnamese enterprises to explore online export in 2020.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s recent move to tighten loans in the real estate sector is expected to have no impact on low-income earners who wish to purchase apartments worth less than VND1.5 billion (US$64,900).

The real estate market in 2020 is likely to face multiple challenges, Nguyen Tran Nam, chairman of the Vietnam National Real Estate Association (VNREA), told the 2019 Vietnam Real Estate Forum on November 27.

Seven traffic infrastructure projects in the country have fallen behind schedule, including Ben Luc-Long Thanh and Trung Luong-My Thuan expressways, along with five urban railways, according to the Ministry of Transport.