Deadlock after 20 years of abandonment

The nearly 4,000 m2 land plot for the construction of the abandoned SJC tower in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Toan

Waste of "golden land" for 20 years

At the end of May 2024, Saigon Kim Cuong Joint Stock Company (investor) sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee requesting consideration and settlement of procedures for adjusting the SJC Tower Investment Project because the Project has been stalled for too long. This project was approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in 2004, with an area of ​​nearly 4,000 m2 in the most prime location in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, with 4 frontages on Le Loi - Nam Ky Khoi Nghia - Le Thanh Ton - Nguyen Trung Truc streets.

According to the original design, the Project was a 54-storey high-rise complex with functions of a commercial center, office, restaurant, etc., with a total investment of more than 5,300 billion VND. Since the Project was approved for investment until 2015, the investor did not implement the Project.

After that, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assigned the City Inspectorate to conduct a comprehensive inspection to clarify the causes and responsibilities of related units that caused the project to be delayed. During the inspection, it was discovered that the shareholders had transferred capital more than 5 times, including 2 times generating profits of over 668 billion VND, increasing the investment capital in the project.

After more than a decade of delay, on December 2, 2016, the investor held a groundbreaking ceremony. However, due to legal procedures, the project could not be constructed. Letting grass and trees grow wildly on the "golden land" in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, causing loss of urban beauty, the project was once included in the list of projects that disfigure the city's appearance by the City.

The key lies in the investment license.

After many efforts to resolve procedural problems, it was thought that the project would start in 2021 under the direction of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in Notice No. 939/TB-VP dated December 27, 2021, but the project is still at a standstill.

On May 7, 2024, Mr. Le Huu Tam, General Director of Saigon Kim Cuong Joint Stock Company signed Document No. 09/CV-SGKC to send to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and relevant departments and branches regarding the consideration and settlement of procedures for adjusting the Project. In the document, the investor said that in order for the Project to start construction in time according to the direction of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City in Notice No. 939/TB-VP, the enterprise quickly deployed the design work and carried out legal procedures according to regulations to obtain a construction permit.

Document No. 09/CV-SGKC of Saigon Kim Cuong Joint Stock Company stated that, with the current numerous difficulties, the Company respectfully requests the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Planning and Investment, the Department of Finance, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the City Tax Department to consider and resolve the adjustment of the Investment Project and complete other legal procedures so that the Project is eligible to start construction and put into operation, in order to solve difficulties for businesses and bring beauty to the center of Ho Chi Minh City.

At the same time, the enterprise has submitted a dossier requesting project adjustment according to regulations to the Department of Planning and Investment and submitted additional documents to be edited according to the Department's request. However, the dossier requesting project adjustment has not been processed yet.

At the end of December 2023, the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City issued Document No. 16144/SKHDT-KTĐN guiding and requesting investors to report on project implementation status, monitoring and evaluation reports on project implementation. After being guided, the investor implemented and resubmitted the application for adjustment of the investment registration certificate.

On January 2, 2024, the Department of Planning and Investment issued Document No. 00016/SKHĐT-KTDN in response to the enterprise that the unit had not received any instructions from the competent authority. Upon receiving instructions from the competent authority, the Department will consider and process the enterprise's dossier according to regulations.

Because the project has not yet resolved legal procedural problems, the investor requested a reduction in land rent for 2022 and 2023, because it believes that legal procedural problems are beyond the business's ability to handle, but the land rent must still be paid.

Four years after the investor submitted the application for adjustment of the investment registration certificate, the project has not yet been considered and resolved. Because the investment certificate has not been adjusted, the enterprise cannot carry out the next procedures to start construction.

Investors believe that the extension of time to resolve legal procedures will shorten the project's exploitation and business life cycle, making it more difficult to recover capital and make the project profitable.