Billion dollar real estate fraud

The just-established Thu Duc City is already witnessing skyrocketing property prices, with hikes of around 30 per cent reminding local authorities of the need for special policies to manage the market. Property prices have been spiralling out of control since the establishment of Thu Duc City. Photo: Le Toan/ VIR Nguyen Minh Tuan, a resident in Phuoc Long Commune of the former District 9, was interested in a land plot in Dong Tang Long New Residential Area. However, this plot’s price has increased by more than 40 per cent compared to mid-2019 when Thu Duc City was yet in the pipeline. “The prices in this area have increased a lot; however, local landlords still predict that the prices will even further increase towards the end of the year. That is why buyers will certainly make a profit if they buy land plots right now,” Tuan told VIR. Prices in the area could sit anywhere at VND30-40 million ($1,300-1,750) per square metre depending on the location in 2019, but are now usually around VND50-70 million ($2,200-3,000) per sq.m. In Tam Da Street in the former District 9, a 50-sq.m land plot is now quoted at $3,000 against the $1,750 at the end of 2020. This January, when Thu Duc City was officially established on an area spanning across the old districts 2, 9, and Thu Duc, apartment prices at the King Crown Infinity – a project developed by BCG Land located – soared to over VND95 million ($4,100) per sq.m – the highest valuation ever for an apartment in the area. A general trend of appreciation was also observed in land plots and houses in the area of the former District 9 with outstanding increases of 20-30 per cent compared to mid-2020. The most buoyant area was Truong Tho Commune, the centre of Thu Duc City, where property prices are quoted at more than VND160 million ($7,000) per sq.m. This 500-hectare area is close to major transport facilities such as Metro line No.1 and Hanoi Expressway, and is planned to become a new residential …

[Read more...] about Stability sought for Thu Duc City prices

Western nations have the capacity in terms of economic potential and the legal and moral aspects to promote access to vaccines on a global scale. The outlook for the Covid-19 vaccine today can be partly seen from the tragic picture of the AIDS pandemic in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when pharmaceutical firms developed effective diagnostic and treatment tools that could save the lives of millions in poor countries, but were unwilling to share them. India begins a nationwide campaign for Covid-19 vaccination. The movement to enable access to AIDS drugs in countries like Brazil, South Africa, India, and Thailand through mandatory patent sharing with multinational corporation helped antiviral drugs reach accessible levels, falling in price from more than $10,000 per year to over $300, saving the lives of tens of millions of people and repelling the spread of AIDS. Ethical conduct The current global vaccine crisis comes from supply scarcity. Markets and patents are the fundamental reasons for restricting access to vaccines, and they are deeply rooted in the global intellectual property order, even when a public health crisis is at a serious level. Last July, South Africa, and then India, submitted a proposal to the TRIPS (WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Council on intellectual property and public interest and a comprehensive and flexible approach to TRIPS to enable broad, flexible, and affordable access to vaccine patents and curative solutions in response to pandemics. South Africa also mentioned the World Health Organization's (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) initiative. Since May 2020, C-TAP, launched by WHO in partnership with the Government of Costa Rica and 40 member state co-sponsors with the Solidarity Call to Action, has called to action the global community to voluntarily share knowledge, intellectual property and data necessary for COVID-19. C-TAP is intended to …

[Read more...] about Another road for Covid-19 vaccines

Tran Vinh Tuyen, former Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – The Investigation Police Agency under the Ministry of Public Security on March 6 said it has suggested prosecuting 16 people, including a former senior official of Ho Chi Minh City, found to play a role in a law violation case in the State-owned Saigon Agriculture Incorporated (Sagri). Investigations unveil that the mastermind of the case is Le Tan Hung . In his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Members and General Director of Sagri, Hung ordered the building of 10 fake dossiers for Sagri officials and employees to visit 16 countries, aiming to appropriate more than 14 billion VND (607,120 USD). Notably, aware of the ineligibility of a housing project in Residential Area No. 4 in Long Phuoc B Ward, District 9, HCM City, Hung still instructed his subordinates to complete procedures and signed documents proposing the municipal People’s Committee give a nod to the transfer of the project to Phong Phu JSC with a cost of 168 billion VND, causing losses worth hundreds of billions of VND to the State. The agency found that Tran Vinh Tuyen, former Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee, signed Decision No. 6077/QD-UBND dated November 17, 2017 that gave the green light to the transfer of the project, invested by Sagri, although he knew its ineligibility./. VNA …

[Read more...] about Prosecution proposed against former HCM City Vice Chairman