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> Investment Digest Vietnam Q1/2014 *Arrows indicate monthly, quarterly, or period-over-period trends as appropriate **Data is accurate as reported on the indicated date Market Snapshot Trend Indicator January February March Date 10-year bond yield 8.90% 8.84% 8.70% 31-Mar Credit Market -0.55% ytd -1.2% ytd +0.01% ytd 31-Mar Deposit Rate 7%-9% 7%-9% 6%-8% 18-Mar FDI -21.9% yoy to $0.3971b -62.5% yoy to $1.54b -49.6% yoy to $3.334b 20-Mar FDI Disbursed +3.3% yoy to $0.465b +6.7% yoy to 1.12b +5.6% to 2.85b 20-Mar Fitch B+ B+ B+ 26-Mar GDP - - 4.96% 1-Apr Inflation +0.69% ytd +1.24% ytd +0.8% ytd 28-Mar Lending Rate 7-9% short, 9-13% long 7-9% short, 9-13% long 7-9% short, 8-13% long 30-Mar IIP +3% yoy +5.4% yoy +5.2% yoy 31-Mar Moody’s B2 B2 B2 26-Mar Overnight Rate 3.37% 2.77% 1.70% 28-Mar PMI 51.8 51 51.3 1-Apr Refinance Rate 7% 7% 6.50% 28-Mar Repurchase Rate 5% 5.50% 4.50% 28-Mar Retail Sales +12.6% yoy +13.7% yoy +10.2% yoy 30-Mar Standard & Poors BB- BB- BB- 26-Mar Trade Turnover -10.8%/-14.6% yoy +12%/+17% yoy +14.1%/+12.4% yoy 27-Mar VND-USD 21,053 21,085 21,079 1-Apr VN-Index 504.63 586.48 591.57 31-Mar Access more reports and connect with us at bit.ly/investVN & slideshare.net/ColliersVietnam Q1 2014 | VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST

Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

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Colliers Vietnam Q1 2014 Investment Report: Read and follow the top economic indicators for Vietnam, M&A activity, and major developments in finance, banking, and legal. Published Monthly with contribution from LNT & Partners Law Firm.

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Page 1: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

> Investment Digest Vietnam Q1/2014

*Arrows indicate monthly, quarterly, or period-over-period trends as appropriate**Data is accurate as reported on the indicated date

Market SnapshotTrend Indicator January February March Date

10-year bond yield 8.90% 8.84% 8.70% 31-Mar

Credit Market -0.55% ytd -1.2% ytd +0.01% ytd 31-Mar

Deposit Rate 7%-9% 7%-9% 6%-8% 18-Mar

FDI -21.9% yoy to $0.3971b -62.5% yoy to $1.54b -49.6% yoy to $3.334b 20-Mar

FDI Disbursed +3.3% yoy to $0.465b +6.7% yoy to 1.12b +5.6% to 2.85b 20-Mar

Fitch B+ B+ B+ 26-Mar

GDP - - 4.96% 1-Apr

Inflation +0.69% ytd +1.24% ytd +0.8% ytd 28-Mar

Lending Rate 7-9% short, 9-13% long 7-9% short, 9-13% long 7-9% short, 8-13% long 30-Mar

IIP +3% yoy +5.4% yoy +5.2% yoy 31-Mar

Moody’s B2 B2 B2 26-Mar

Overnight Rate 3.37% 2.77% 1.70% 28-Mar

PMI 51.8 51 51.3 1-Apr

Refinance Rate 7% 7% 6.50% 28-Mar

Repurchase Rate 5% 5.50% 4.50% 28-Mar

Retail Sales +12.6% yoy +13.7% yoy +10.2% yoy 30-Mar

Standard & Poors BB- BB- BB- 26-Mar

Trade Turnover -10.8%/-14.6% yoy +12%/+17% yoy +14.1%/+12.4% yoy 27-Mar

VND-USD 21,053 21,085 21,079 1-Apr

VN-Index 504.63 586.48 591.57 31-Mar

Access more reports and connect with us atbit.ly/investVN & slideshare.net/ColliersVietnam

Q1 2014 | VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST

Page 2: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

Despite reform delays and credit stagnation, the economy made solid gains in other areas. GDP growth in Q1 is the highest since 2011, consumer confidence is the highest since 2011, inflation continues to fall, the current account is maintaining a healthy surplus, the Dong has maintained stability to the dollar, while actually strengthening in relation to other ASEAN currencies, and foreign trade continues its double-digit growth – benefitting from China’s aggressive geopolitical posturing and Vietnam’s regionally competitive labor and energy costs.

Both stock exchanges advanced in Q1 with the VN-Index gaining 17.25% and the HNX-Index 31.66%. Foreigners led the advance due to a variety of factors including an anticipated increase in foreign ownership limits, China’s aggressive regional posturing, and the destabilization of several emerging markets such as Ukraine, South Korea, and Thailand.

We expect economic expansion to accelerate in 2015-2017. Deleveraging will continue through into 2016, but we expect domestic demand to rise in 2015 and help shrink the output gap.

The investment environment is strongly favorable for affordable and mid-income residential, and logistics property; favorable for office and retail; and unfavorable for high-end residential.

Q1 has been a quiet quarter with no surprises: Vietnam is in a holding pattern of sub-7% growth – unable to shake free the fetters of bad debt and a system mired in lethargy and special interests. There has been little progress in both of the two key drivers that was mentioned in the last letter (Q4’13) - financial sector reform and an overall deleveraging of both the public and private sectors contributing to the large output gap and underutilization. Vietnam seems to prefer slow incremental changes resulting in missed opportunity cost as it lags behind its ASEAN neighbors.

Circular 02, which promises to apply international standards to debt classification and risk provisioning, has been postponed once again to April 1st, 2015 from June 1st, 2014. Circular 09 (Mar 18, 2014) will allow banks to postpone certain provisions in Circular 02 in hopes it will “soften” the blow to the banking sector. While there is risk to the market in the form of credit crunch and insolvency, this will once again extend deleveraging and further flatten the recovery curve. Vietnam is also focusing on reducing rates to spur credit growth and investment. However, despite very dovish policies, credit rose a negligible 0.01% ytd against the year’s target of 12%-14%. Current indications point to a lack of domestic investment appetite due to a combination of high levels of debt and low domestic demand. This has resulted in high levels of liquidity, as evidenced by low interbank rates. For lack of better options, banks have been parking the excess in g-bonds.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) hopes that long-term rates between 7%-9% (currently 9%-13%) will be the catalyst necessary for sustained domestic investment activity.

Manager’s Letter

KYNAM DOANInvestment [email protected]+84 1223 128 032

2 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Manager’s Letter COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

3 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Headlines

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

Page 3: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

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HeadlinesCentral Bank Delays Circular 02 to Apr 1, 2015 In March, the central bank issued Circular 09/2014/TT-NHNN amending Circular 02/2013/TT-NHNN on classification of debt and risk provisioning at banks that will bring transparency and raise risk management practices to international standard. Circular 09 will delay some of the major provisions of Circular 02 until April 1st of 2015 in hopes of softening the blow of banking reform. Experts expect NPLs to jump to 9%-15% from the currently reported 3%-4% once the circular is enacted – potentially crippling credit and leading to failures of weaker banks and businesses.

This latest delay follows a prior delay that pushed the execution of Circular 02 from June 1st 2013 to June 1st of 2014. Reform of the banking sector and reduction of NPLs will be further delayed and continue to depress Vietnam’s growth.

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

3 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Headlines COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

Credit Rating Agencies & Corporate Bond Information CenterThe Vietnam Bond Market Association (VBMA) and the Ministry of Finance are planning to set up a corporate bond information center to educate the market, provide information about the primary and secondary markets, and set up a yield curve.

Last year, the volume of corporate bonds sold was 34.41 trillion VND (1.62 billion USD), a surge of 19.87 percent from 2012, 37.64 percent against 2011 and 14.7 percent over 2010.

The Ministry of Finance as also submitted a framework for the establishment of credit rating agencies and expects a decision within the first or second quarters of this year. This will be key in opening up the bond market to both domestic and foreign investors.

IPOs of State-Owned Companies StruggleState-owned companies offered to sell nearly 304.5 million shares in the first quarter, of which nearly 83.5 million shares, or 27.4%, were sold. Local investors were most active, while foreigners bought only 10.1 million shares. Among the companies selling shares, most were in public works in the property sector, which is still experiencing recession with uncertain times ahead.

While equities are up 17% this quarter, foreign investors are hesitant to purchase SOEs that are struggling and facing a mandate to equitise – major headwinds contributing to these early struggles.

This will make it difficult for the government to meet its plan to sell shares in 432 state-owned enterprises by 2015 - part of their major initiative to restructure the state-owned sector away from non-core activities.

ACV Prepares for Expansion of Tan Son Nhat International AirportAirports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) is planning to expand Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC to expand capacity to 26 million passengers a year from the current 20 million. This expansion is necessary while awaiting progress on Long Thanh Int’l Airport in Dong Nai, which has yet to start. The airport’s annual capacity reached 20 million passengers late last year, one year sooner than earlier estimated, and is estimated to reach 25 million by 2016. Passenger volume is expected to reach 30.3 million by 2020 and 53.4 million by 2030.

Such a move is also a strong indication that progress on the Long Thanh Int’l Airport has stalled further. Vietnam Investment Review recently reported that feasibility of the project was still under discussion. The first phase would cost an estimated US$7.8 billion, displace over 30,000 residents, absorb over 5,000 hectares of currently growing cash crops

Over 18,000 new Companies Formed and Over 16,000 Businesses Suspend or Closed in Q1/2014The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI) has reported that 16,745 enterprises have closed or suspended their business operation in the first quarter of this year. This is an increase of 9.6% over the same period last year.

The MoPI also reported that 18,358 new companies formed worth VND97,983 billion ($6.64 billion) of registered capital, rising 16.9% in quantity and 23.4% in capital. Additionally, 4,622 enterprises which had registered to suspend or close their businesses restarted their operation, making a year on year rise of 48.9%.

Page 4: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

4 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Headlines COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

HeadlinesCredit Stymied Despite Loose Monetary PolicyLending grew by a negligible 0.01% against the end of 2013 despite low rates that continue to fall. In March the State Bank of Vietnam lowered its discount rate to 4.5% from 5%, refinance rate to 6.5% from 7%, and repurchase rate to 5% from 5.5%. This rate of growth falls short of government targets of 12%-14% for 2014 and only reinforces the urgency with which NPLs need to be addressed. The high liquidity is being shifted to public debt as banks are parking all of this excess cash in government bonds.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung last month asked the monetary authority to step up measures to lower lending rates. The determined dovishness of the government and SBV will eventually lead to rising inflation once the market begins to expand their balance sheets.

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

HCMC Office SectorOver the first three months of this year, occupancy rate of Grade A office buildings in HCMC increased slightly to 90.2% while the median rentals gained 0.27% q-o-q. Average asking rent of Grade B developments also gained 3.76% compared to negative growth in 4Q13. Grade B occupancy rate showed good movement - rising to 90.8% in last quarter. Office leasing achieved the best market performance in Q1/2014 with an increase in both asking price and occupancy rate. The main force drove Office leasing up was mainly relocating activities whereas extension demand rose only slightly.

Gradual improvement in office demand is expected to happen as the economy continues to improve in 2014. Future supply of Grade B in the next 12 month is assured to be stable due to good construction progress in many projects including Lim Tower 2 and Viettel Tower. Grade A capacity will expand due to the completion of Le Meridien SG and Vietcombank Tower.

BCG tags Vietnam as a “New Growth Frontier”In a recent report, BCG touted the future growth prospects of Vietnam, which will be buoyed by the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) free-trade pact that takes effect in 2015. The report covers the growing middle and affluent class (MAC), consumer optimism, and the upcoming consumption tipping point.

Vietnam has the fastest-growing middle and affluent class (MAC) in SEA. Between 2012 and 2020, this population of consumers will rise from 12 million to 33 million. Compare this to a two-fold increase in Myanmar and Indonesia, and a 35% increase in Thailand.

More than 92 percent of consumers in Vietnam expect to live better than their parents and expect their children to live better than themselves. This level of optimism is among the highest recorded across 25 countries surveyed in the past year and is significantly higher than in China, India, and Indonesia.

In order to project the growth of consumers and their spending in Vietnam, the CCCI analyzed population and income trends in nearly 1,400 districts and surveyed 2,000 urban consumers about their purchases in 20 categories of consumer goods.

The CCCI generated consumption curves that showed the income levels at which purchasing takes off for individual products and were able to identify tipping points of accelerating consumption. (See exhibit on right)

As is illustrated, with a rise of only about 60% in GDP/capita, Vietnam will experience a consumption tipping point for many groups of consumer goods. Identifying and segmenting Vietnam by GDP/capita zones would be one possible approach to expansion and investment strategy to capture markets shortly before tipping point. If this report holds true, the window to enter Vietnam and take advantage of this jump in consumption is within the next several years.

Source: BCG

Source: BCG

Page 5: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

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Vietnam Attracts Over 2.3M Tourists in Q1The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported that Vietnam received an estimated 2.33 million international visitors in the first quarter of this year, a year on year increase of 29.3%. Of these, 1.4 million people visited the country for tourism and resort, up 27.14% year- on-year; some 391,508 people came for business, up 28.76%; 403,829 people came to visit their relatives, up 35.62% and the rest of 128,819 people came for other purposes, up 36.23%.

Foreign visitors to Vietnam from all markets posted on year growth in the period. In which, visitors from Hong Kong topped the list with a 325.88% on year rise; Germany ranked second with 248.79% growth; followed by Russia, China, and Cambodia with 55.22% growth, 48.94% growth and 33.81% growth, respectively. The local tourists also edged up in the first 3 months of this year, increasing 6.85% on year.

In 2014, Vietnam targets to receive 8 million oversea tourists, serve 37.5 million domestic tourists and earn VND230 billion ($10.8 million).

5 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Headlines COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

Headlines

M&A > Feb 2014: Kien A investment and service Ltd (developed

Imperia An Phu) acquired Park Residence (Phu Hoang Anh II)

project from Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group > Feb 23, 2014: Novaland Corp acquired three commercial

projects including Icon 56 Ben Van Don, Lexington Residence

district 2, Galaxy 9 district 4 with the total investment of $176mil

> Mar 2014: Phong Phu home textile JSC merged with Phong Phu Group, shares interchange, ratio 1:1 > Mar 25, 2014: Sacombank’s shareholder meeting announced

thay they had approved the M&A plan with Southern Bank.

Retail Growth flat at 10.2% in Q1Retail sales are up 10.2% y-o-y to US$33.24 billion according to the GSO. Compare to an identical 10.2% y-o-y growth in Q1 2013.

The HCMC Retail Sector is now suffering from weak demand and increasing vacancies resulting in downward pressure on rents. The first quarter of 2014 saw downturn of all market segments. While retail podiums saw no change in rent, both department stores and shopping malls experienced rental fall for the third consecutive quarter. The average rent of department store dropped by 1% while that of shopping malls dropped 9% q-o-q.

Labor Demand Outstrips SupplyVietnamWorks published a report April 1st that showed 11% growth in demand for employment while the labor force expanded only 8%.

The report shows a continued trend of significant imbalance of workers with appropriate qualifications to meet demand for business across a number of sectors. This is an unchanged trend where training and education fail to meet the growing labor demand.

The fields with the highest recruitment demands include import-export, information technology, business administration, industrial production, customer service, sales and marketing and construction.

The fields experiencing the greatest need for qualified candidates span accounting, production, IT, software, import-export, design and architecture.

Vietnam Pushing New Stock Market ProductsExpect major changes in the Vietnamese stock market this year as there are plans to merge the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Hanoi Exchange (HNX), both are finalizing plans to launch exchange traded funds (ETFs) and derivatives, and 2013’s Decree 108/2013/ND-CP, which stipulates that joint stock companies that start selling shares to the public must list within one year, is forcing more companies to IPO.

The government hopes that the merger of the bourses and proliferation of investment products will strengthen Vietnam’s equities market and attract more domestic and foreign capital with a broader range of products.

HCMC ResidentialSales moved briskly in Q1 with about 2,000 units sold. While the trend is upwards in affordable and mid-end sectors, progress is slow. There is a primary supply of approximately 15,300 units - 1,200 high-end, 3,700 mid-end, and 10,400 affordable units.

Uptake of the VND30 trillion affordable loan package remains slow despite lowering the preferential rate to 5% and extending terms to 15 years.

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VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

7 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Economic Indicators

Economic Indicators

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

6 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Economic Indicators COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

GDPVietnam’s GDP growth in Q1/2014 reached 4.96%, an improvement over the 4.76% pace in the same period last year and was at the highest level since 2011. This is an encouraging sign, but still underperformed the 5.2% forecast of Bloomberg’s survey of seven economists.

Industry, which accounted for about 36% of GDP, grew 4.9% from the same period a year earlier. Services, which made up 47% of GDP, expanded 6%.

TradeTotal exports reached $33.35 billion for an increase of 14.1% y-o-y in the first quarter while imports reached $32.34 billion for an increase of 12.4% y-o-y resulting in a surplus of approximately $1 billion. While values climbed, trade growth has slowed for both exports and imports. Y-o-y growth in Q1 2013 for exports and imports was 19.7% and 17.0% respectively.

As expected, FDI accounted for a lion’s share of the growth and volume. FDI exports accounted for 62.3% of total and grew 18.9% y-o-y while FDI imports accounted for 57.3% of total and grew 14.6% y-o-y. Domestic exports and imports grew 9.8% and 9.7% respectively.

The United States (U.S) was Vietnam’s largest importer, buying 17.8% of Vietnam’s total exports, an increase of 22.9% on year; the European Union (EU) ranked second with 17.7% of Vietnam’s export values, up 7.5% on year; followed by ASEAN countries (up 6.5%); Japan (up 17.8%); China (up 30.2%). In term of imports, more than 80% of Vietnam’s imported goods are from Asian countries, mainly from China, ASEAN, Korea and Japan.

FDIThe total newly-registered and additional Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has fallen sharply by 49.6% to US$3.334 billion in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. However, the total FDI disbursed has increased by 5.6% y-o-y to US$2.85 billion.

The processing and manufacturing sector ranked first in attracting FDI with US$2.332 billion for 141 projects, accounting for 69.9% of total FDI, followed by the real estate sector with US$288.3 million, and the construction sector with US$226.7 million accounting for 8.6% and 6.8% respectively.

In the first three months, the Republic of Korea (22.9%), Japan (12.4%) and British Virgin Islands (11.5%) led 32 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Q1’s FDI focused its attention back to Southern region, Binh Duong drew the most with US$788.8 million, followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai Province with a combined proportion of 57.8% of total registered FDI.

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Typical FDI Projects Registered Q1/2014Dai An Vietnam - Canada International hospital project at Hai Duong, total capital registered at $225mil from CanadaResidential and Commercial project at Binh Thanh District, HCMC, total capital registered at $200mil from HongKongWorldon Vietnam project at HCMC aims to manufacture high-end wearing apparel, total capital registered at $140mil from British Virgin Islands

Page 7: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

InflationAfter Tet, demand for consumer products tends to shrink, partially explaining the 0.44% m-o-m fall in CPI in March. Inflation for the 1st quarter of 2014 increased just 0.8% ytd and 4.39% yoy.

According to the GSO, CPI decreased across several major groups. Among those groups, catering and relating services experienced the highest decrease of 0.96% m-o-m with grain food -0.13%; foodstuff -1.46%. Housing and construction material group followed with a decrease of 0.74%. On the growth side, groups such as family appliances; garments, hats, footgear; medicines; health services and education grew at very humble rates, of 0.03% to 0.16%.

Currency Remains StableVietnam’s Central bank set the U.S. dollar’s exchange rate at VND21,036 in March , where it has remained constant for 9 months. Commercial banks are allowed to apply effective exchange rates +-1% from the official exchange rate set by the central bank, accordingly, the ceiling price for a dollar is VND21,246. By the end of March, commercial banks raised dollar prices by VND5-10/dollar either for bid or ask, offering at VND21,065-21,085/dollar for bid and VND21,125-21,130/dollar for ask, respectively.

Last quarter the SBV forecast a 2% devaluation against the dollar in 2014, but a combination of strong FDI disbursal, healthy trade surplus, anti-dollarization policies, and high remittances have continued to prop up the Dong. The currency will fall at most by 1% this year - barring any major shocks to the system.

Index of Industrial Production Up 5.2% in Q1 2014In the first quarter of the year, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew by 5.2%, higher than the 4.9% over the same period in 2013. Manufacturing and processing grew by 7.3%, the power generation and supply increased by 9.2%, water supply and waste treatment by 5.7%, mining and quarrying fell by 2.9%.

New Orders Rise at Fastest Pace since Oct 13 (PMI)Solid new order growth was recorded in March, with the rate of expansion quickening to the strongest in five months. March’s PMI of 51.3 was a slight improvement over February’s reading of 51.0.

It was a mixed report as input buying grew for seventh consecutive month, inventory decreased, job creation decreased for the 1st time since august 2013, input price rose as a result of shortages of raw material, and output prices fell due to strong competitive pressures.

Economic Indicators

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

QUARTERLY invEsTmEnT DiGEsTThis digest is published quarterly by Colliers Vietnam Investment Services, led

by Peter Dinning and KyNam Doan, with contribution from our legal partner,

LNT-Partners. We advise an asset portfolio that focuses on appropriate returns

to match diverse risk-return profiles. Our portfolio tracks a wide range of assets

including land, developments, and income-producing properties across all market

sectors - commercial, hotel, industrial, residential, and retail. Contact us to learn

more.

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7 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Economic IndicatorsCOLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

Page 8: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

District 2 Will be new City CenterOn 20 March 2014, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City released Decision No. 1340/QD-UBND stipulating the management of general urban projects for the new adjustment of the city construction project until 2025.

This Decision provides that the current urban area of the city will cover 13 districts: Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, Go Vap, Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan, these districts of which will function as the city center (center of political, commercial services, finance, culture and history). Meanwhile, the development of urban area includes 6 districts: Districts 2, 7, 9, 12, Thu Duc and Binh Tan. District 2 will now be a new city center area, while the remainder will comprise urban areas of development and renovations.

Real Estate Business from other relevant laws such as the Law on Housing and the Law on Land. Under the amendments, the transactions to purchase, lease, sublease, etc. residential houses will follow the provisions set out by the Law on Housing.

Secondly, the amendments will expand the scope of real estate business activities for foreign organizations and individuals and overseas Vietnamese. Accordingly, these subjects will have the right to rent houses, build houses for subletting or lease land with infrastructure for subletting. This can be seen as a move to encourage foreign investors to invest in the Vietnamese real estate market.

Thirdly, despite these advantages, the amendments are forecasted to increase the scope of management of state agencies in real estate investment and real estate business. It is expected that more applications or processes for putting houses or construction into business will be required (while the Law on Real Estate Business requires the application to comprise construction permits or project applications and construction drawing designs, the amendments will require all of these documents to be submitted). This is likely a move by the State to reduce the risk borne by purchasers and control poor investments in the real estate sector. While the added layer of security may be positive, it has the unwanted effect of creating further difficulties and obstacles for foreign investors who wish to implement their real estate projects.

Fourthly, while the 2006 Law on Real Estate Business required the real estate business enterprises and individuals to sell, lease and hire-purchase houses or construction works through real estate transaction floors, the amendments do not mandate that these transactions be carried out through real estate trading floors (although it still encourages it). This change will provide alternative avenues when real estate transaction floors fail to conduct their roles in the real estate business market, as these floors can complicate real estate business transactions and waste time of parties.

Ministry of Construction Endorses Unification of Single Method to Calculate Area of ApartmentsOn 20 February 2004, the Ministry of Construction issued Circular No. 03/2014/TT-BXD to amending Article 21 of Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD (which addresses Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP implementing the Law on Housing).

Once this Circular comes into effect, every housing contract of real estate companies must be made into four copies: one to be kept by the buyer and the other three to be used by the investors to pay taxes and registration fees and to apply for the certificate of the right to use land and own property on the land to the buyer. Furthermore, the apartment purchasing contract must comply with the contents of the sample contract in the appendix to this Circular. Any such apartment purchasing contract that does not conform with this sample contract in the appendix will not be recognized by law and will not be useable for the purposes of applying for the land use right and property ownership certificate.

Under Article 1.2 of the Circular, the area of the apartment to be written on this certificate issued to the buyer will include the area of the walls separating the rooms inside the apartment, the area of the balcony and the loggia (if any). The area will not include the area of the boundary walls of the apartment, the walls separating the apartments, the columns and technical boxes inside the apartment.

This provision essentially creates a uniform method for calculating the area of an apartment, which is a change from the two methods that were previously applied in Article 21 of Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD. The revision brought about by this Circular now brings it in line with the provisions of the Law on Housing and Decree No. 71/2010/ND-CP. This revision is expected to resolve disputes that have occurred recently whereby apartment buyers were required to pay a higher price for apartments than was originally envisaged due to the two different methods used by the investor and vendor (i.e., if the investor calculated the area of the apartment from the middle of the surrounding walls and walls separating apartments referred to in Circular No. 16/2010/TT-BXD). The Circular will come into effect on 8 April 2014.

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

8 Vietnam Investment Digest | Q1 2014 | Legal Brief COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

Legal Brief

Draft Amendment to Law on Real Estate BusinsesThe Law on Real Estate Business was adopted by the National Assembly and came into effect since 1 January 2007. In 2013, the Ministry of Construction has drafted amendments to this Law on Real Estate Business, which is expected to be adopted by the National Assembly in 2014. These amendments bring multiple notable changes to the real estate business. Among other things, the below are key changes that we assess they are highly likely to be passed:

Firstly, the amendments will distinguish the scope of the Law on

Page 9: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

VIETNAM INVESTMENT DIGEST | Q1 2014

Legal BriefGold Market will be Managed More TightlyOn 28 March 2014, State Bank of Vietnam released Circular No. 11/2014/TT-NHNN on the regulation of carrying gold by individuals on exit or entry into or out of the country. Accordingly, individuals cannot carry gold ingots or raw gold material on exit or entry.

Also, individuals may only carry gold jewelry and fine art under strict conditions. Upon entry or exit with passports, individuals have to declare with customs if they hold gold jewelry and fine art carrying amounting to 300 grams or more.

For individuals entering or exiting with a laissez-passer, gold will only be allowed if it will only be used to satisfy the demand for jewelry. An amount of 300 grams or more must also be declared. These actions can be seen as another step towards the State Bank’s tightening of the management of the country’s gold market.

The Circular will come into effect on 15 May 2014 and replaces Decision No. 1465/2001/QD-NHNN issued by the State Bank on 12 September 2001. Currently, individuals may carry up to one kilogram of international standard gold when entering the country but must declare such amount to customs as provided under this Decision.

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Investment ServicesAcquisitions > Identify & secure opportunities

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LEGAL pARTnERLNT & PARTNERS is a leading full-service independently ranked local law firm in

Vietnam with offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hong Kong, and San Francisco.

The firm is among Vietnam’s most prominent, representing a wide range of

multinational and domestic clients, including Fortune Global 500 companies as

well as well-known Vietnamese listed companies on a variety of business and

investment matters.

LNT & [email protected]

Reach out to the Vietnamese investment community. To contribute

to Colliers’ Investment Digest, contact [email protected] Contact: KYNAM DOAN [email protected] +84 1223 128 032

Page 10: Q1 2014 Colliers Vietnam Investment Digest

Accelerating success

With more than 100 professionals in 2 offices in Vietnam, the team is market driven and has proven and successful track record with both international and local experience.

From Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, we provide a full range of real estate services

•Research > Market research across all sectors > Market analysis, advisory, and strategy

•Valuation & Advisory Services > Valuation for land, existing property or development sites > Feasibility studies to determine NPV, IRR and highest & best use

•Office Services > Tenant Representation > Landlord Representation

•Residential Sales & Leasing

•Retail Services

• Investment Services

•Real Estate Management Services

•Corporate Services

• Industrial Leasing

The foundation of our services is the strength and depth of our experience.

COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL

HO CHI MINH CITYBitexco Office Building, 7th Floor19-25 Nguyen Hue StreetDistrict 1, HCM City, VietnamTel: + 84 8 3827 5665

HANOICapital Tower, 10th Floor109 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, VietnamTel: +84 4 3941 3277

This document/email has been prepared by Colliers International for advertising

482 offices in63 countries on6 continents

Accelerating success

About Colliers InternationalColliers International is a leader in global real estate services, defined by our spirit of enterprise.Through a culture of service excellence and a shared sense of initiative, we integrate the resources of real estate specialists worldwide to accelerate the success of our partners.

We connect through a shared set of values that shape a collaborative environment throughout our organization that is unsurpassed in the industry.

Publication Coverage Frequency Content Availability

Research & Forecast Report

Vietnam Cities Quarterly All market sectors Publicly available

CBD Report HCMC CBD Monthly Office, Retail, Hotel and Serviced Apartment

Publicly available

Asia Pacific Office Report

Asia Pacific in-cluding Vietnam

Quarterly Office market Publicly available

Vietnam Property Market Report

Vietnam cities Quarterly All market sectors On subscription

Development Recommendation

Vietnam cities At request All market sectors On subscription

$2billion in annual revenue

2.5billion square feet under management

13,500professionalsand staff

www.colliers.com/vietnam

Please contact, If you would like to recieve our other research reports

PETER DINNINGGeneral [email protected]+84 903 322 344

KYNAM DOANInvestment [email protected]+84 1223 128 032