Hà Nội Residents have been weaponizing their wallets against major state-backed banks to halt the 736.963 trillion đồng (about $29 billion) Red River Landscape Boulevard.
The Latest: In recent days, several Facebook accounts in groups for residents along the Red River have posted and shared calls to withdraw money from the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, or VietinBank, and the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam, or Vietcombank.
The two banks are responsible for arranging mobilized capital for the Red River Landscape Boulevard project.
On June 8, state media reported that VietinBank and Vietcombank would secure this funding, noting that the two banks may also work with other credit institutions as lead financiers.
The Details: In the Facebook group “Đại Lộ Sông Hồng – Thành Phố Sông Hồng; Hồ Tây – Hội Cư dân Hà Nội,” which has more than 29,000 members, one account stated that residents were calling on people to withdraw all their money from the two banks so they would “no longer have money to support the project’s implementation.”
- Another account urged members to withdraw their funds so that “they will no longer have money for land clearance” and to demonstrate that “our people do not agree with a total clearance.”
- A separate individual argued that people nationwide should withdraw their savings from Vietcombank and VietinBank, asserting that otherwise they would be “abetting land robbers.”
- In the Facebook group “Cư dân phường Hồng Hà,” which has nearly 40,000 members, one account posted a screenshot of an article from Tạp chí Tài chính Doanh nghiệp reporting the banks’ responsibilities for the project. The account added: “Please spread the word and join hands to support residents along the Red River. Understand it yourself and take action.”
The Background: Residents in areas covered by the Red River Landscape Boulevard project have carried out a series of actions opposing the investment policies.
- Affected citizens have repeatedly submitted petitions, open letters, personal appeals, and public posts while also hanging banners and slogans calling for an end to total clearance, the preservation of existing villages and residential communities, and fair compensation.
- Residents in several ancient villages along the Red River have been especially vocal in opposing total clearance, demanding that the villages be preserved amid concerns about cultural rupture.
- More recently, a nonprofit website called “Cộng đồng ven sông Hồng,” or “Red River Communities,” was launched to provide residents with information and guidance on how to submit petitions. The website, however, is currently inaccessible from Việt Nam.
Why It Matters: On the morning of May 11, 2026, the Hà Nội People’s Council approved the investment policy for the Red River Landscape Boulevard project, with all attending delegates voting in favor.
- The project is one of Hà Nội’s strategic megaprojects, aimed at reshaping urban space along the Red River and improving the quality of the capital’s central urban area. It will pass through 16 communes and wards, use about 11,418 hectares of land, and require preliminary investment of about 736.963 trillion đồng (about $28 billion USD). It is expected to affect around 200,000 residents.
Compared with the previous plan, the new policy removes three wards from the project’s scope—Vĩnh Tuy, Hoàng Mai, and Vĩnh Hưng—and reduces total investment by about 118 trillion đồng.
Contributed capital refers to money invested directly by the project’s developers, while mobilized capital is money raised from outside sources, often through bank loans or bonds. For this project, the investors—a consortium of Đại Quang Minh, THACO, and Hòa Phát—will contribute 110.545 trillion đồng, while mobilized capital arranged by the targeted banks will total 626.418 trillion đồng.
Lê Sáng wrote this article in Vietnamese and published it in Luật Khoa Magazine on June 16, 2026. The Vietnamese Magazine has the copyrights to the English translation.
