Interspersed with "sky-catching" buildings in the prime land of Nam Tu Liem district, the Vicem Operation and Transaction Center building project, although the rough construction has been completed, has been "lies the bone" for nearly ten years.
In early March 2025, Vietnam Cement Corporation (Vicem) officially restarted the construction of this building with the goal of serving the necessary needs for workplaces of the Corporation.
In addition, a part of the project area is expected to be leased for optimal exploitation of functions, with additional revenue to maintain operations, maintain buildings and effectively use the State's investment capital.
Speaking with Lao Dong reporter, Mr. Ha Quang Hien - Chief of Office of Vietnam Cement Corporation - said that Vicem plans to complete the project by the fourth quarter of 2026 at the latest. However, the Corporation is striving to complete the project in the third quarter of 2026.
"Currently, the Corporation has assigned the contractor to clean up the site and work safely inside the building" - Mr. Hien added.
However, Lao Dong reporters' records in the last days of March 2025 showed that there were still no signs of construction activities resuming above this building.
The building has only completed the rough construction, with grass growing in many places, and surrounding fences have deteriorated.
With great expectations, there will be a building designed with a strong shape, large scale, promoting urban development. But until now, what people see is still just the rough tower on Pham Hung Street and next to Keangnam Building.
Mr. Nguyen Truong (31 years old, Yen Hoa ward, Cau Giay district) said that in the middle of the golden land, the completed building is abandoned, very wasteful.
"Not only me but every resident in the near area is looking forward to having a beautiful, spacious tower. But so far the tower has not changed anything, it is just a concrete block" - Mr. Truong said.
In fact, the Vicem Operation and Transaction Center project has been invested in since 2010, with a total investment capital after adjustment of more than 2,743 billion VND. The building has a scale of 31 floors above ground and 4 basements.
The project started construction in May 2011. By August 2015, the rough construction of the project had been completed. However, from 2015 to now, the project has been "shelved" and abandoned.
In June 2015, the above land was approved by the Ministry of Construction for a plan to rearrange and handle houses and land, allowing Vicem to keep and continue managing and using it to implement the project.
After that, Vicem requested the Ministry of Construction to submit to the Prime Minister to allow the Corporation to develop a plan and find partners to transfer the project to recover investment capital.
The Ministry of Construction has issued a report and was approved by the Prime Minister in principle to allow Vicem to transfer the project in March 2017.
In 2017, this project also appeared in the conclusion of the inspection of compliance with the law on finance, accounting and tax at Vicem by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance.
In particular, Vicem Operations and Transaction Center is one of 6 investment projects that are not suitable for reality and business lines, leading to the need to stop implementation to transfer and divest capital.
By 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha directed the Ministry of Construction to receive comments from ministries and the Hanoi People's Committee, and directed Vicem to continue investing in completing the project according to regulations.
It can be seen that the Vicem building has gone through a rather unfortunate fate when it was sold out but failed, and then wanted to "revive" it for use.
However, by the end of March 2025, whether this project can be put into use in the fourth quarter of 2026 as planned or not is still a difficult question to answer.
The Standing Committee of the Central Steering Committee on preventing and combating corruption, waste and negativity agreed to include 4 cases and incidents with signs of waste in the scope of monitoring and direction, including the Vicem Trade and Operation Center Building Project.
