It’s time to make build amid market challenges: Thang Loi Group CEO

Ho Chi Minh City-based property developer Thang Loi Group is giving top priority to corporate restructuring to make it healthier this year, rather than trying to expand the business in challenging times, CEO Nguyen Thanh Quyen tells The Investor.

The year 2022 was a rocky time for the Vietnamese realty market. How did your company adapt during the tough period?

At the beginning of 2022, business returned thanks to a post-pandemic economic recovery in Vietnam and people expected it would create momentum for a rosy year after two gloomy years caused by the pandemic.

However, the realty market gradually fell into really tough times and businesses faced many difficulties due to tightened credit policy. Getting access to bank loans was so hard, and developers lacked the capital needed to continue their developments amid the capital crunch. Legal work for property projects also continued to be complicated and time-consuming.

In this context, we had to change with a focus on restructuring the whole system and working on new plans for 2023 towards 2030.

At present, we are focused on improving and developing our team's capacity to prepare for happier times. We are also researching more green real estate developments to diversify our products and expand cooperation ties with partners.

In the near future, we will introduce to the market affordable housing products to meet the needs of the majority of customers. We expect this new product line to be a big success in 2023 and onwards.

What opportunities do you expect this year for the market and real estate companies?

Last year’s woes can still be seen now. If the government does not introduce solutions to the credit crunch, the market will continue to face difficulties.

I think that in the first six months, the market will witness a quiet period due to supply shortages of products able to meet the real demand, and limited access to credit sources for developers and customers. Hopefully, the second half will welcome some positive changes, but there won't be many.

The outskirts of big cities and towns will continue to draw future projects thanks to the development of transport infrastructure, while people prefer not to live in "concrete jungles".

In terms of price, affordable housing products will be sought after most. The market has in recent years seen very low supply in this segment.

In addition, there has been some positive information that some credit valves will open in the time to come.

What products do you have in the pipeline for 2023?

This year, Thang Loi Group expects to carry out a new affordable housing project in Long An province bordering Ho Chi Minh City. It does not take a long time to commute from Long An to the city, and Long An has for years been a focus for us.

The highlight of this project will be high-rise apartment blocks, and many customers will be able to afford them. This is real demand. For the project, we expect to start sales in the second half of the year.

In the meantime, we will continue to focus on sales for projects under construction that have already been introduced to the market such as Diamond City and Saigon Town.

We expect the entire market to revive and bring new vitality to the economy. I’d like to send our best wishes to investors and customers for the New Year. Please join hands during these tough times and wait for better things ahead.