Construction industry has potentials for export

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According to economic expert Dinh The Hien, the construction industry has achieved the highest growth rate in the past 10 years with continuous increase in sales from nearly US $ 5 billion in 2007 to nearly US $ 13 billion in 2017. In 2017, construction continued its strong growth along with GDP growth. The industry has attracted a lot of companies with 16,000 newly established companies, accounting for 12% of the total newly established companies, up 10.6% over 2016.

In 2018, the construction industry is expected to continue its good growth thanks to the economic growth with GDP forecasted at 6.5-6.7%. In addition, the increase of FDI will raise the demand for factories. The real estate industry has the growth momentum from foreign capital (in 2017, FDI in real estate industry ranked second with over US $ 2.04 billion). Total investment in the construction industry in 2018 is expected to reach VND 331,000 billion.

Together with the record growth of the industry, many construction companies such as Hoa Binh and Coteccons are strong contractors capable of competing with foreign contractors, based on their financial capability and technology. Not only being master in domestic market, some companies like Hoa Binh have step by step joined foreign market and become contractors in foreign projects with bidding packages worth tens of millions of dollars.

Le Duc Hai, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of Hoa Binh Construction Corporation, said that the revenue of US $ 13 billion of the construction industry in 2017 was just the tip of the iceberg because it had excluded revenues from sub-industries such as construction materials, and interior decoration, if covering all the revenues, the revenue of the construction industry must be US $ 50-60 billion.

According to Hai, not only in the country, the construction industry has great potential for development in foreign countries. This will bring huge revenue for the country by not only exporting construction but also other industries. The construction export will increase 15-20 % of the construction industry’s value

Construction companies have mastered the domestic market in high-rise residential projects requiring high technology. However, if only in the domestic market without accessing to the international market, after a period, the construction industry will also go backward. The practical experience of Hoa Binh showed that the construction companies have learned many things to contribute to raising the efficiency of investment and construction when working in foreign countries.

"The time has come, but how to grasp it, totakethe construction industry abroad,that requires a national strategy,forwhich the participation of the State, the Association and companies is necessary. Recently, Hoa Binh has proposed Government solutions to make the construction industry become a spearhead economic industry and exporter to foreign countries. Accordingly, the State and companies must follow the international standards in the management, operation, business and development of regulations on construction management, investment management and training. In addition, companies must have global thinking in their business operations, must put themselves in the global competitive market to professionalize,"said Hai.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hiep, former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction shared that in order to export; the construction industry must have its own market share. Currently, a weakness of Vietnam’s construction industry in foreign markets is foreign language. It takes time for the human resources to meet the requirement.

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"The construction industry has great potentials for export, following the pioneer companies such as Hoa Binh, there will be more companies developing in overseas markets. Therefore, right now, the companies need to expand their overseas markets, not only in the raw construction but also in the construction completion and the construction materials in order to increase export turnover. Together with the companies, state management agencies must be more active in the role of direction, currently, now the role of the state management agencies is very limited," Mr. Hiep noted.