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[Hurricane88]

Selling houses to foreigners proves a challenge for Vietnam’s realty developers

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 02/03/2017 14:20 GMT + 7

More than one year after Vietnam eased restrictions on foreign property ownership laws, the lack of crucial guidelines is proving to be a major challenge for developers on the hunt for foreign buyers.

A government decree and new housing laws enacted in July 2015 relaxed requirements for foreigners to own housing in Vietnam, though unclear regulations are still proving a burden to sellers.

Specifically, foreign organizations and individuals have the right to buy condominiums and own or inherit at most 30 percent of the apartments in a condo building.

Regarding individual properties, including villas and semi-detached houses in an area with the number of people equivalent to that in a ward-level administrative unit, foreigners are allowed to buy or own a maximum of 250 houses under 50-year leases.

If a foreigner is married to a native Vietnamese, they are entitled to buy or own a house or condo for much longer than the 50-year limit.

After the 50-year period of house ownership, under the new Housing Law, foreign individuals can carry out procedures to extend the ownership once, but not for more than 50 years.

The old law permitted them to own only one piece of property for a maximum time frame of 50 years.

However, foreigners are only able to buy houses or apartments from projects that are not located in restricted zones for defense reasons, according to the decree, which said such zones were to be determined by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security.

As of 2017, the two ministries have yet to issue any guideline on which areas are off-limits to foreign owners, thus leaving local realty developers with lack of a crucial legal basis to sell houses and apartments to foreigners.

In a recent letter by Da Nang’s Department of Construction addressing the city’s condo developers, which had earlier filed complaints regarding the issue, it said a guideline of restricted zones must be in place before it can issue a list of housing projects open to foreign buyers.

In the meantime, the department suggested its developers submit relevant legal documents to file a formal letter with the city’s administration.

[Hurricane88]

The Tet debate: Vietnam's government says 'beautiful' holiday must be preserved

By Anh Minh February 4, 2017 | 11:14 am GMT+7



Netizens have been fighting one another on whether the Lunar New Year and its rituals are still right for the modern age.
In a move apparently to cool off a heated debate among Vietnamese netizens over the Lunar New Year holiday, a government spokesman has said the country will not skip the traditional spring festival anytime soon.

Vietnamese netizens have spent years arguing whether the country should break traditions and join most of the modern world in celebrating just one single New Year holiday, or it should keep observing the Lunar New Year, known in the country as Tet.

The debate became unusually contentious ahead of Tet this year, which started in late January, with some suggesting that the government merge the two events together into one big spring festival.

But Mai Tien Dung, who heads the Government Office, said at a press briefing on Friday that the government has not received any official proposals from any agencies on this matter.

“The government has never discussed merging the holidays,” Dung said, calling Tet a “beautiful tradition” that needs to be preserved.



The Lunar New Year is considered the most important in Vietnam, giving many a long enough period of time for family reunions. It is celebrated by Vietnamese and Chinese communities around the world.

Opponents of the holiday said it comes with so much trouble and unnecessary rituals. For instance, so many migrant workers have to rush home for the holiday. The long break also impacts business especially when it involves international trade.

Although never officially addresing those concerns, the Vietnam government has recently tried to keep the holiday more simple. This year, it pushed for a holiday with no fireworks and ordered officials not to visit or bring gifts to superiors. The recent week-long holiday was also shorter than the official break in the previous years.

Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnam expert, said there is no reason Vietnam cannot continue to observe both New Years. “Traditions that bring family and friends together should be cherished,” he said in a note last month.

He said companies and the government can adopt suitable policies to ensure that a skeletal staff is kept on duty to manage business affairs.

He said Vietnam should keep Tet not only for traditional, cultural and national identity reasons, but also because there are many Vietnamese living abroad and that would be a opportunity for them to show off their traditions and for foreign friends and colleagues to connect with them.

“This is a good example of soft power,” Thayer said.

[Hurricane88]

Hanoi poised to name and shame scantily dressed people

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 02/04/2017 11:17 GMT + 7



Those in Hanoi who are inappropriately clothed in public places will be publicly criticized by local authorities, according to a draft code of conduct.

Competent agencies in the Vietnamese capital on Friday began receiving feedback on the code of conduct in public locations, which is set to be applied to all people in the northern city.

According the draft, organizations and individuals visiting, living, working or studying in Hanoi should not talk loudly, make loud noise, use swear words or smoke in public areas.

The provisional code also bans them from spitting, defecating, littering, writing on or staining public works.

They are prohibited from wearing indecent clothes that go against Vietnamese custom and tradition in communal places.

The code of conduct requires people not to jostle, cause disturbance, or eat and sleep at local amusement parks, attractions, railway stations, seaports, and airports, while vendors at such places must not solicit and overcharge customers for their products and services.

The tentative code is considered an effective way for Hanoi to become an elegant and civilized city, contributing to the preservation and development of national culture and tradition.

Organizations and individuals who strictly comply with the regulations will be praised and rewarded, while those who violate the rules will be publicly censured in the mass media, the code says.

[Hurricane88]

Russian man dodges jail time thanks to fake Vietnamese cobra wine

TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 02/04/2017 11:45 GMT + 7



A Russian national who brought home a jar of cobra wine from Vietnam was facing a possible jail term for violating wildlife laws, until authorities found the cobra to be fake.

According to Vietnamese newspaper VnExpress, the Russian man had traveled to Vietnam, where he bought two jars of wine, one laced with a cobra and another with a scorpion.

While going through customs in the city of Chelyabinsk in his home country, the man was stopped and detained for inspection over the suspicious jars of wine.

According to Evgeni Melekhov, a representative of Chelyabinsk Customs, the possession of the cobra in his wine violated the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Russia is a signatory.

However, lab tests carried out by Russian authorities later showed that the cobra was in fact a common snake in the family of Colubridae whose signature ‘cobra hood’ had been made from metal wires.

If it had been a real cobra, the man could have been charged with wildlife trafficking and faced up to seven years behind bars, according to Russian laws.

Snake wine is not uncommon in Vietnam, and is rumored to improve male virility despite the absence of medical evidence.

Last year, a 61-year-old man in Ho Chi Minh City was hospitalized for kidney failure after drinking two shots of snake wine a day for years.

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by smallplayer

hehee

GONG XI FA CAI TO YOU AND EVERYONE!!
HUAT AH!!

So you got cum back to Sinkie to celebrate???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

I haven't see a 100 dong note for at least 6 years...only see 500 dong notes which I hardly want as change...

Oh I kept quite a few of those smaller dongs notes as keepsakes during my biz trips hee-haw years back, some even smaller than 100 vnd but mostly those crispy new notes not those kiam chye ones

If you want ah, I can tear a 500 vnd note into 5 pieces and pass 1 to you as 100 vnd swee bo kekekeke

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

so long you guys happy to wait...I am a guy that values punctuality...anyway not a problem to let the fren join us wherever we are when he woke up and ready...just have to direct the bike or cab...

Well we tend to go everywhere together if we do travel in a group as kinda not very fun if were to leave somebody behind or vice versa someone tries to MCBB and leaves us behind...... sure kena suan from us the whole day

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

haha...so CNY in Sinkieland and not traveling ha...

Oh definitely travelling and a long trip somemore got chance especially during CNY so have to grab.....

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Thom07

Happy CNY !!!

So where did you spent your CNY???? with birds that dun lay eggs???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

[snipeshot08]

Originally Posted by Hurricane88

Looks like bro SS08 on extended holidays...

Back liao huhuhuhu.............

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

If you want ah, I can tear a 500 vnd note into 5 pieces and pass 1 to you as 100 vnd swee bo kekekeke

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

No need lah...u so kiam siap...

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Well we tend to go everywhere together if we do travel in a group as kinda not very fun if were to leave somebody behind or vice versa someone tries to MCBB and leaves us behind...... sure kena suan from us the whole day

Cheerios.....SS08 ^_^

Em hieu roi...

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Oh definitely travelling and a long trip somemore got chance especially during CNY so have to grab.....

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

So any forum to share...

[Hurricane88]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

Back liao huhuhuhu.............

Cheerios.......SS08 ^_^

Oh so sad...no worries another trip cuming up soon...

[smallplayer]

Originally Posted by snipeshot08

So you got cum back to Sinkie to celebrate???

Cheerios......SS08 ^_^

yeah lor..I sneaked back for close to 1 week.
found a nice deal by SQ>..
then went JB for spa...hehee