BANKS SAY LOANS AVAILABLE FOR SAIGON SOUTH HOUSING PROJECTS

By Ngoc Huong

(SGT - HCMC) domestic commercial banks said on Friday they were willing to provide loans for housing projects in HCMC’s Saigon South but said legislative procedures for granting land-use right certificates should be further quickened.
Le Cong Thuong, director of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development in HCMC, said his bank is thinking of concerted measures to boost lending for housing projects in Saigon South.
"We will offer loans with competitive monthly rates of 0.6% for housing projects if applicants meet borrowing conditions", he told a gathering held by Saigon South Management Board to present housing projects to potential investors.
Meanwhile, Pham Trung Cang, director general of the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB), said his bank has decided to provide VND 500 billion worth of installment loans for State employees to buy houses this year and next.
"We will also work with Saigon South management board to discuss cooperation programs to develop housing projects", Cang said. He added an ACB survey shows HCMC residents are seeking to buy 100,000 houses, including 10,000 sought by teachers.
Duong Xuan Minh, director general of Saigon Bank for industry and Trade, said his bank also plans to pour investment into housing projects in Saigon South as well as provide low-interest loans for house buyers.
However, most of the bankers said they could not release loans without land-use right certificates. "Bottlenecks on leasing land, transferring land and granting land-use right certificates should be removed to give investors easier access to bank loans", said Le Cong Thuong.
Cao Duy Tuan, deputy head of Saigon South, said it usually takes investors six months to complete procedures relating to land allocation, adding some of them have to spend up to three years to have their projects’ premises approved.
Nguyen Van Chi, former HCMC vice-chairman and now head of Saigon South Management Board, said at the meeting that HCMC government will seek to facilitate investment procedures in the coming time to allow housing projects to get off the ground as soon as possible.
He said the city authorities earlier allowed the board to approve investment projects which do not use State budget in a bid to boost construction pace in the area.
According to Saigon South Management Board, besides housing blocks developed by Phu My Hung Joint Venture Co., only house owners in Tan Qui Dong and Binh Hung residential areas in Saigon South are granted land-use right certificates.

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