Prime Minister Approves $830 Million Highway Construction Project
On August 2nd, Vietnam’s Prime Minister approved the investment proposal for the construction of the Ho Chi Minh City-Moc Bai Highway, with a total investment of over VND 19.6 trillion ($830 million). The first phase of the project will span 51 kilometers, connecting Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 3 in Cu Chi district to National Highway 22 in Ben Cau district, Tay Ninh province.
Rendering of the highway project.
The highway will be built to expressway standards, with a designed speed of 120 km/h and four lanes. The project also includes the construction of ancillary works, an intelligent transportation system, and a toll collection system, ensuring efficiency and compliance with current standards and regulations.
The investment preparation and implementation period is expected to last from 2024 to 2027. The project will be carried out under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, specifically a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract.
Quoc Cuong Gia Lai to Repurchase Project for $126 Million
In the case of Van Thinh Phat, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), and related parties, Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC (QCG) was ordered by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court to refund over VND 2,880 billion ($122 million) to Ms. Truong My Lan.
Specifically, the court ruled that Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC must refund over VND 2,880 billion that it received from defendant Truong My Lan to guarantee the fulfillment of her obligations. Additionally, 16 real estate properties totaling approximately 1 hectare in Phuoc Kien, Nha Be district, were seized and handed over to the Ministry of Public Security for further investigation in the second phase of the case.
Quoc Cuong Gia Lai determined to repurchase the Phuoc Kien Residential Area project.
At the recent shareholders’ meeting, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, CEO of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai, stated that the company currently owes Sunny Land over VND 2,880 billion. After the ruling of the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC), QCG is only required to pay 50%. However, in the Van Thinh Phat case, the court ordered the refund of over VND 2,880 billion to Truong My Lan for restitution.
When asked about the source of funds for the repurchase, Mr. Cuong replied that QCG will divest from three hydropower plants, bringing in nearly VND 1,000 billion. This year, the company will focus on clearing inventory from all projects, expecting to generate over VND 1,000 billion. Finally, revenue from the Marina Da Nang project will contribute to the total. Thus, the amount of nearly VND 3,000 billion needed to retrieve the documents for the Phuoc Kien Residential Area project is feasible.
SJC’s New Move Regarding the Refusal to Buy ‘One-Word’ Gold Bars
On August 3rd, a representative from Saigon Jewelry Company Limited (SJC) announced that starting August 5th, the company will resume purchasing SJC gold bars with a single-letter hallmark, as well as deformed gold bars.
On the same day, SJC’s General Director, Le Thuy Hang, stated that the SJC gold bars are manufactured according to the ISO 9001/2015 standard. The gold bars with a single-letter hallmark were produced by SJC before 1996. The company then offered customers a period to exchange these gold bars for the new two-letter hallmark bars at no additional cost. Currently, SJC buys back the one-letter gold bars at the same price as the two-letter ones. Afterward, the company will refine the one-letter bars into the newer version for resale.
SJC will resume purchasing SJC gold bars with a “one-word” hallmark and deformed gold bars starting August 5th.
“Deformed and bent gold bars, whether they are SJC gold bars with one or two-letter hallmarks, need to be refined. To perform the refining process, the company needs to allocate resources and obtain permission from the State Bank of Vietnam. Due to objective reasons, SJC temporarily halted the purchase of deformed gold bars for a few days. Now, we have arranged the necessary resources and will resume purchasing deformed SJC gold bars,” said Ms. Hang.
As previously reported by Tien Phong, SJC had stopped buying these gold bars for about two weeks. Typically, when SJC buys back approximately 1,000 taels of one-letter or deformed gold bars, they would request permission from the State Bank to refine them. However, with the increasing stockpile and uncertainty about when refining would be permitted, SJC decided to halt purchases temporarily.
$950,000 Tax Refund to Rescue a Company Owed Wages to 900 Workers
On August 1st, Mr. Truong Van Phong, Vice Chairman of the Management Board of Industrial Parks in Binh Duong province, announced that they are coordinating with relevant agencies to resolve the issue of wage arrears at the Import-Export Hoang Sinh Company, which led to a collective leave of workers in recent days.
Mr. Phong stated that the Management Board is actively coordinating with the Binh Duong Tax Department to implement the necessary procedures for Anh Kim Company, a major shareholder of Import-Export Hoang Sinh Company, to use the tax refund to pay wages to employees.
By noon on August 1st, each worker of the Import-Export Hoang Sinh Company received VND 500,000 in cash support in the first phase. Image: Binh Duong Newspaper
Regarding the tax refund procedure, Mr. Nguyen Van Cong, Director of the Binh Duong Tax Department, said that the department’s units are urgently processing and aiming to complete the necessary legal procedures by August 2nd to refund taxes to Anh Kim Company. Specifically, after reviewing the proposal for a VND 28 billion refund, the Tax Department agreed to refund VND 23 billion, and the money is expected to be transferred to Anh Kim Company’s account early next week.
Upcoming 4-Day Holiday for National Day
According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, the holiday schedule includes two days off for the National Day celebration and two days off for the weekend. As a result, civil servants and public employees in administrative and non-business units will have a maximum of four consecutive days off. The holiday period will start from Saturday, August 31st, to Tuesday, September 3rd.
During this year’s National Day holiday, officials, civil servants, public employees, and laborers will have a maximum of four consecutive days off (illustrative image).
For agencies that do not have a fixed Saturday and Sunday off schedule, the arrangement of the holiday will depend on the specific programs and plans of each unit.
For employees in enterprises, the employer can choose to take the National Day holiday on Monday, September 2nd, along with either Sunday, September 1st, or Tuesday, September 3rd.
The Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs encourages employers to apply the same holiday schedule for their employees as that of civil servants and public employees.
