TV shopping company unfazed by crackdown

TUOI TRE

A TV shopping company that was fined VND451 million (US$22,550) by the Ho Chi Minh City government yesterday for selling fakes and products of unknown origin, continues to function normally.
Kam Buu Lam, head of Happy Shopping’s telephone sales department, said: “We have been running our business for nearly two years and have a lot of loyal customers.

“And such news will not affect us much.”

He claimed that all of the Happy Shopping’s products advertised on TV has quality certificates and licenses.

“That is why TV stations air them.”

The company’s website says 11 channels, including VTV9, HTV3, and cable channels HTVC and SCTV, broadcast its home shopping program.

Lam refused to reveal the number of products the company sold or their origins, saying he was not authorized to talk about that.

But the company would refund money to customers if they had a complaint about any difference in quality between a product they bought and what was advertised on TV.

Its shopping programs on TV remained unchanged, he claimed.

But Le Duc Hung, director of HTVC, said Happy Shopping executives had been invited for a meeting to discuss the schedule, adding HTVC would revise its contract with the company.

In April, following an investigation, HCMC market management authorities seized from the company more than 13,000 items that lacked clear origins and tens of thousands of fake products.

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Hanoi real estate prices outstrip HCM City

Homebuyers in the capital are paying far more than Ho Chi Minh City residents despite lower per capita incomes.

VTC, DAN TRI

According to real estate experts, homebuyers in the capital are paying far more than Ho Chi Minh City residents, despite lower per capita incomes, due to poor development procedures, speculation and lack of supply.
Exorbitant Hanoi prices

According to Nguyen Dinh Toan from the AZ Real Estate Company, a square metre in an apartment development in the capital could cost up to VND25 million (US$1,213) compared to just VND17 million ($825.24) in Ho Chi Minh City.

In Hanoi, the prices of apartments located near the city centre are extremely high. A 59-square metre apartment in a project located in Thai Ha Street is priced at VND41.2 million ($2,000) or VND39.6 million ($1,922) per square metre respectively for a 101-square metre apartment.

At the Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh apartment project in Cau Giay District, a 51-square metre apartment is priced at VND39.4 million ($1,912) per square metre, rising to VND40.1 million ($1,946) per square metre for a 158-square metre apartment.

Meanwhile, many apartment projects in Ho Chi Minh City are sold as low as just over VND10 million ($485.43) per square metre. In Hanoi, apartment projects priced at VND30 million ($1,456) are quite common.

Despite being recent reductions, land prices in Hanoi are still much higher than those in Ho Chi Minh City.

After cuts in price of VND5-7 million ($242.7-339.8) per square metre, land prices at the Kim Chung-Di Trach project still remain at roughly VND50 million ($2,427) per square metre, with the Tan Tay Do project in Hoai Duc District at a comparative VND48-50 million per square metre. While the Tan Viet project in the district at around VND40 million ($1,941) per square metre.

Adjacent houses on Le Trong Tan reach highs of VND120-130 million (USD5,82-6,310) per square metre.

In contrast, in Ho Chi Minh City, Him Lam-Tan Hung project has the highest price of VND84.3 million ($4,092) per square metre, with other projects ranging from VND30 million and VND40 million per square metre.

Mrs Hoa, a bank clerk who recently moved to Ho Chi Minh City to live said, with VND1 billion ($48,543), she could easily buy a house in the southern city, but it was next to impossible in Hanoi.

Reasons for the disparity

The explanation for lower Ho Chi Minh City prices according to Mr Toan related to cheaper construction procedures.

In Ho Chi Minh City, real estate investors can access bank loans; and therefore, they have to sell real estate projects at lower prices to pay off mature loans. In Hanoi, most of investors use their own capital and therefore are under little compulsion to sell at a cheaper price.

According to Nguyen Tran Nam, Deputy Minister of Construction, total real estate loans in 2010 reached VND224 trillion ($10.87 billion), up 22% compared to 2009.

In Ho Chi Minh City, real estate loans accounted for up to 47% of all bank loans, compared to just 16% in Hanoi.

Ho Chi Minh City also boasts far higher supplies of real estate, with the southern city long being home to larger new urban developments, which the capital has only recently begun experiencing.

Former Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said Hanoi had also seen large numbers of people migrating to the city from other localities, pushing up demand for land and housing.

Mr Giang, a real estate agent, also said that Hanoi lacked enough suitable development land and that land lots and houses regularly increased in value several times between real estate agents before they had become available to customers.

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HCMC, Hanoi see CPI up 2.38 pct, 1.76pct in May

Vegetables pictured at Big C supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo: Tuoi Tre

TUOITRE

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Ho Chi Minh City’s consumer price index (CPI) this month rose 2.38 percent month on month and 16.23 year on year, according to the municipal Statistics Office.

The HCMC's CPI has risen by 10.86 percent since December, 2010.

Hanoi's CPI in May soared 1.76 percent month on month, said Hanoi Statistics Office, adding that the capital city's CPI in May surged 19.08 percent year on year and rose 11.59 percent from last December.

In the southern economic hub, only post and telecom services had their prices dropped while all other commodities and services had their price hiked.

The commodities posting the highest growth were medicines and medical services (4.25 percent), food and restaurant services (3.77 percent), housing, electricity, water, fuel and construction materials (2.9 percent), and transportation services (2.77 percent).

Other commodities, including garment, headwear and footwear; household utensils and appliances; cultural, entertainment and tourism services; beverages and cigarettes; and education services saw slight increases.

Gold prices in the southern hub rose 1.57 percent while US dollar prices fell 2.66 percent against the previous month.

The situation in the capital city is nearly the same with only post and telecom services saw their prices drop (1.73 percent) in comparison with last month.

The biggest price hikes in the month were seen in the group of housing, electricity, water, fuel and building materials (2.99 percent), following by food and restaurant services (2.25 percent) and transportation services (2.23 percent).

Other categories including cultural products, recreation and tourism; education; health care; and home appliances saw month-on-month increases of less than 2 percent.

Also during the month, the gold price increased 1.62 percent against last month while the US dollar price was down 0.75 percent month on month.

Camp to gather Lucky Luke fans

TUOITRENEWS

The local publisher First News in Ho Chi Minh City will hold a camp next month offering the chance for fans of the famous cowboy Lucky Luke comic series to meet each other.

Titled “Lucky Luke Plus You 2011,” the camp will include games with the theme of Luke’s adventures, a music show featuring songs related to the comic by Filipino band Sound on Fire, and a booth that will collect books and comics for poor children.

The camp will take place at 4 p.m. on June 4 in Phu Tho Stadium at 229 Ly Thuong Kiet, District 11.

Fans of Lucky Luke can get tickets by emailingluckylukefanclub@gmail.com.

Lucky Luke is a comic series created in 1946 by Belgian cartoonist Maurice De Bevere. It has been one of the most popular and best-selling comic-book series in Europe.

The comics tell stories about wandering cowboy Lucky Luke who is well known due to his knack of shooting faster than his shadow.

It has been translated into around 31 languages all over the world.

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Ho Chi Minh City boy dies after falling into sewer

TUOITRE

An eight-year-old boy died in Ho Chi Minh City Friday after falling into a sewer in Binh Chanh District.
Tran Dinh, a second-grade student at the Vo Van Tan primary school, was returning home from school when he fell into a deep pit in front of his school.

He got stuck in a sewer inside and died of asphyxiation.

The pit has no fence around it and is surrounded by wet, slippery grass.

Truong Thi Kim Cuong, the victim’s mother, lamented: “Students’ parents have asked for a fence to be built around the dangerous pit but no one has done it so far.”
 
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