While a lot of companies and enterprises want to lease offices in the capital, estimates put the unoccupied office area at more than 10 percent of the space available.

The National Assembly debated fiercely a proposal that would allow more project investors to award no-bid contracts yesterday.

Authorities of the central coast city of Danang are mulling a plan to build 7,000 apartments for low-income families in the city from now to 2010.

The government is seeking National Assembly approval for a major overhaul of Vietnamese laws intended to cut bureaucratic licensing procedures significantly.

Market research companies have released reports, saying HCM City property market in different segments witnessed a decline in the first quarter of this year given the economic downturn. However, compared to other sectors, the serviced apartment market has seen continued stability thanks to limited supply. There is expectation that performance will be impacted as some large mixed use projects in the pipeline complete and enter the market this year.

Experts from the Ministry of Construction and the British Department for International Development worked here yesterday on an initiative to provide more financial transparency in the construction industry.

The Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, yesterday presented to the National Assembly a bill revising six laws relating to capital construction investment.

Spain may provide HCMC with 200 million euro to build a subway and this can be decided in the next few days when city vice chairman Nguyen Trung Tin visits Barcelona.

It is estimated that 10 percent of total office area in the capital city remains unoccupied, while a lot of people are seeking offices to lease. Leasers and customers still cannot come to terms because the former does not want to cut leasing fees while the latter does not want to pay the asked fees.

Early May 26, the Ministry of Construction forwarded an online meeting on policies promoting the housing development among students, workers at concentrated IPs and low-income people in reference to the Government’s Resolution No.18.

The much-touted program of building dormitories for students around the country should be consolidated to build dorms for groups of universities rather than build a single dorm at each university, says Construction Minister Nguyen Hong Quan.