The increase in the export of the construction industry will contribute greatly to the economy, make the construction industry a key economic sector soon, be the leverage for Vietnam to reach a new height. That is the sharing of the dedication of Mr. Le Viet Hai – Chairman cum CEO of Hoa Binh Construction Group at the Meeting with the Prime Minister on 26/12/2019.

Hoa Binh Construction Group is the general contractor of The Empire City project.

From the subcontractor to the general contractor 

Looking back on the development history of the construction industry, Mr. Le Viet Hai said that after a long time of war devastation with severe consequences, the reconstruction process was not favorable during the subsidy period with many inadequacies, which made our depressed economy more stagnant and difficult. However, extremely unfavorable conditions have created opportunities for the booming development of Vietnam's construction industry as the country began a renovation period. Thousands of modern projects have been built at a lightning pace by many international contractors whose partners are internal contractors in order to compensate for the serious shortage of architectural works and infrastructure in the long run. From the role of a subcontractor, Vietnamese businesses have gradually become partners and have been successful in the position of general contractors of many large-scale projects meeting highly artistic and technical requirements so far. The construction industry has created an exceptional competitiveness in a short time.

 Hoa Binh Construction Group is the general contractor of The Peak Midtown project.

"The construction tycoon" said that Hoa Binh was established in the renovation period; not only has the company had a large workforce embracing the technology in order to make many remarkable improvements, it also was a pioneer who brought Vietnam construction industry to foreign countries. This will create a market hundreds of times larger than the domestic market, make the construction sector a key industry soon, contribute greatly to the national economy. At the same time, developing this industry in foreign markets is also an effective way to improve the competitiveness of Vietnam's construction industry, which ensures that we always have the opportunity to immediately acquire and integrate with outstanding achievements of the world. “Just a few years ago, large-scale projects requiring highly artistic and technical criteria such as high-rise buildings, cable-stayed bridges, road tunnels, international airport and train station... were the market of foreign contractors. If now the construction businesses like us do not take proactive and positive steps to learn in order to catch up with the world, then the status of "Superstar projects decline domestic contractors" may be repeated in the future. Mr. Hai warned and added: Developing the construction field in foreign markets can also help to provide more stable jobs for the labor force in the construction industry when the domestic market is saturated or fluctuated. On the other hand, the related auxiliary supply chains such as construction materials manufacturing, interior and exterior equipment, design consultancy services, finance, investment, banking, insurance, transportation, etc. will strongly develop.

“I would like to emphasize our goal is to export general construction services. It means that we are the construction contractor, not only the construction labor exporter. Competition is not only in the price but also in the superiority in applying the latest achievements in technology and management”- Mr. Hai emphasized.

International bidding: Foreign contractors have to set up a joint venture with domestic partners.

In order to help the construction industry to reach out to “big ocean”, the General Director of Hoa Binh Group raised a number of recommendations. In particular, the large-scale projects (such as the North-South highway and railway project, the metro projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Long Thanh airport ...) should be divided into smaller bidding packages. Besides, the conditions for international bidding should require that foreign contractors have to associate with domestic contractors with hold at least 35% shares. And this is an equal partnership i.e. both sides have full competence and responsibility for the whole project rather than the division of work into categories, or main contractor - subcontractor. This not only helps the Government reduce the burden of capital but also gives domestic construction enterprises the opportunity to learn to be able to embrace the technology right after being a joint venture with foreign contractors in the first bid package. Then domestic contractors have been able to act as general contractors to carry out the remaining bidding packages without depending on foreign contractors which double or triple in price.

Hoa Binh Construction Group is the main contractor of Vincity Ocean Park

At the same time, Vietnam needs a specialized organization connecting with overseas agencies (embassies, consulates, economic counselors, trade counselors, representatives of NGOs ...) to collect information on the construction market in countries with potential and favorable conditions, thereby providing information, introducing partners, supporting domestic construction enterprises quickly access these markets.

"When negotiating or re-signing international trade agreements, the Government should pay attention to the article allowing Vietnamese construction enterprises to practice equitably like that of in the host countries as well as other foreign contractors. Another article should be considered is that Vietnamese construction enterprises are exempted or reduced tax on labor import, materials and construction facilities which being brought into the host country. It also needs an article to avoid doubled taxation for Vietnamese enterprises.

Like other industries, construction enterprises need to be supported in terms of licensing procedures as well as procedures for transferring investment money abroad. Domestic enterprises need to be given the priority to execute government’s overseas investment projects of such as embassies, consulates ... There needs to be a mechanism to encourage private enterprises to hand over overseas investment projects to domestic construction enterprises. At the same time, it is necessary to establish the Association of Vietnamese Contractors Abroad in foreign countries to strengthen the cooperation and sharing relationship.

“It is necessary to have appropriate policies to increase motivation for Vietnamese construction enterprises to develop towards a high level of specialization of each type and category of work and create international construction enterprises. Finally, policies to encourage comprehensive development of the construction industry with supply chains in order to occupy the foreign market need to be broadcast on mass media. Not only the owners of industrial production but also construction enterprises should have a global mindset”- Mr. Le Viet Hai proposed.

Ha An

According to Thanhnien online on 26/12/2019

Link on Thanhnien News

Gửi cho bạn

Tên của bạn

Email của bạn

Email người nhận

Tiêu đề

Nội dung tin nhắn

Gửi