On June 15, Vietnamese Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, ordered the restructuring of the construction materials industry in terms of organisation, finance and input materials.

In an online conference on removing difficulties in stimulating production and consumption of cement, metals, and other construction materials, the Prime Minister highlighted the issues of rising fuel costs, raw material shortages, environmental protection pressures, and problems with policy, markets and financing.

For the sector to develop sustainably while becoming more efficient, Mr Chinh said it was vital to implement the national construction materials development strategy for the 2021-30 period, with a vision to 2050. Additionally, the ‘master plan’ on exploration, exploitation, processing, and use of mineral resources for the 2021-30 period, together with speeding up the pace of public investment and infrastructure projects, includes the scheme on building one million social housing apartments.

Mr Chinh also noted the need to apply scientific, technological and management innovations, especially ‘Industry 4.0’.

He continued to explain how important it is to use resources economically and efficiently, save energy, maximise the use of waste from production processes, and minimise the impact on the environment.

The country’s leader urged the industry to improve its ability to forecast domestic and foreign influencing factors, as well as stabilising production and expanding their global market share.

The PM stated that greater attention should be paid to reducing imports, improving quality, cutting costs and increasing the competitiveness of domestic products.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction, in the last 10 years, the country’s total cement capacity of key cement has grown to about 120Mta.

The quality of Vietnamese construction materials meets international standards. The quality of the industry’s technology, production processes, and organisational management ranks among the top in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The total annual revenue of the construction materials sector in Vietnam is estimated to be approximately US$47bn, making up roughly 11 per cent of national GDP.

However, in recent years the country’s construction materials sector has encountered many issues, such as decreases in consumption and revenue. This has led to stagnation in production and business activity, loss of jobs and slow economic development.

Published under Cement News