In this post, we come back on the few friendly investments you can make in Vietnam as a local or foreigner in 2020!
Saving bank account
If you are a Vietnamese citizen, you’re lucky enough to be able to open Bank saving accounts. With the ease of opening/ closing from your home – through the online banking system – you can hope to get up to 7.40% per year if you choose a private joint stock commercial bank. Private but we still recommend you to go for a bank backed up by big names (for example SeaBank 20% owned by Société Générale – Techcombank, and others). Public State banks offer lower rates.
Note for Local investors: due to the Covid19 pandemic situation early 2020, the interest rates for short terms, under 6 months, are almost down to 3% per year. Some private JSC bank will also reduce their yearly rate for 12 months terms (0.4 – 0.5% points lower, even falling by 1%/ year for some banks).
If you are a foreign citizen, then it is not possible to open online saving bank account for foreigners.
Certificate of Deposit
Foreigners and locals can go for the Vietnamese banks Certificate of Deposit – 8.6% APY.
These Bank CD often issue bonds to back up huge Real Estate project (Smart Cities, Resorts or Golf resorts).
In another post, we list down the best Vietnam bank to get the highest interest rate for Certificate of Deposit.
Real Estate Bonds
Recently we see the main Real Estate players issuing bonds to speed up their capital funding to develop their landmark projects.
These projects can offer an interest rates of 11% / year with the excitement to “take part” of the development of the Vietnamese Skycraper horizon cities 😉
Check out the Saigon Glory Company, member of the Bitexco Group issuing 1.000 billion VND bonds with a 3 years term for a 11% / year interest rate. At this price, the bonds with a price starting from 100.000 VND are not insured. The project, Spirit of Saigon aimed to deliver a new landmark in Ho Chi Minh city.
Bitexco is the group behind the iconic Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and the spectacular JW Marriott in Hanoi.
Check out the Vietnam Real Estate bonds with high interest rates.
Real Estate
House flipping
No doubt, with the shortage of medium and high end apartment and house, house flipping sounds really easy! Be sure to go for a project opened to foreign investment with quality promoters and constructors. Then you just need to wait the years to pass to get your ROI.
Land flipping
Like the House flipping, no big secret here. If you are used to invest in Real Estate: house, apartments and lands, it should be easy for you.
The best tip ever: location location and location.
How to maximize your profit – Flipping Real Estate in Vietnam
To maximize the flip, the best is to find a good project, with the best location 😉
But not only! Go for a project with a strong promoter / constructor and buy it at the very first stage. Vietnamese people have less faith than foreigners to see the project completed in the very next years. By experience, the projects allowing Foreign buyers are pretty well checked and somehow “guaranteed” to be completed. It’s in the interest of the country to not have bad post and feedback on how some foreigners lost their money with random projects.
You just need to be patient for ~ 1 year (or up to 2 years if you’ve bought at the very first stage of the project) and to receive the Registration Certificate, also known as the Pink Book (check more about the LURC). You can then sell back your place with a +60% increase (based on the price in million VND / m2).
About the tax? Only a tiny 2% tax on the full total price transaction to be paid.
Note: as a foreigner, it can be more difficult to sell back your asset to Vietnamese. And Vietnamese often pay cash! That’s why, we also buy apartments under a Vietnamese name. With the help of a Notary Agency supervision you will have a proof of the contract, allowing your Vietnamese name contact to apply for all land/apartment registration without rights to sell or transfer your property to someone else.
The price, 4.000.000 VND (172 USD in July 2020) for the notarized documents and a tiny % on the profit for your Vietnamese partner.
We come back on the process to use a Vietnamese name to purchase Real Estate property in Vietnam in another post with all documents to be signed and explained.
Crypto and Bitcoin in Vietnam
Bitcoin and crypto are not officially recognized to be used as a payment currency in Vietnam. However some very famous like Binance offers you to purchase BTC, BUSD, ETH and more directly from a VND account (transfer P2P).
Tuto: How to buy Crypto in Vietnam from VND account
Note: this post is supposed to be updated, check it out regularly and comment if you want more details/ process sooner 😉