The plans, to be put forward by the Viet Nam Cement Corporation and South Real-Estate Investment, Construction and Trading Company, will be submitted to the Government in the first quarter of this year.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam said the ministry had accelerated equitisation and restructuring at firms set to join the groups.

Last year, the ministry submitted plans on development of property groups based on Song Da Construction Industrial Corporation, Viet Nam Heavy Industrial Corporation and Viet Nam Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD).

Nguyen Hiep, chairman of HUD management board, said the property groups would play a big part in thawing the domestic real-estate market.

The corporation has converted to the operation model of parent and subsidy, to lay the groundwork for becoming a property group.

It has set up product management boards in the north, the central area and the south to put investment into projects on developing new urban areas nationwide, and upgrading old living quarters and residential houses for rent.

This year, the corporation is planning projects on developing living quarters in large cities and key economic regions to create the foundations for establishing a property group, according to Hiep.

"The HUD expects to account for 15 per cent of total floor space nationwide by 2010 to partly regulate the domestic property market," according to Hiep.

The domestic property market had a bad business year in 2008. The market began to slip in April, after the Government asked relevant ministries and agencies to focus on implementing eight solutions to curb inflation.

The lending interest cap of 12 per cent was altered and credit institutions continued to raise the lending interest rate, making it difficult for investors to obtain loans. As a result, the real-estate market became frozen.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Research and Advisory Real - Estate Company VietRees, more than 90 per cent of leading property experts believe in the future development of the sector but can not predict when.

The current Government economic stimulus policies will create a chance to warm up the cool real-estate market early this year, according to Vice Chairman of the Construction Association Pham Sy Liem.

One of the US$1 billion package’s five stimulus measures launched early December last year is to build housing for low-income families and intensify investment in infrastructure development in rural and mountainous areas.

Source: VietNamNet/VNS