Vietnam PM says State construction projects require better planning

News - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday urged the Ministry of Construction to pay special attention to improving the efficiency of State construction planning.

In a meeting with the ministry to discuss the tasks set for the construction sector this year, Dung highly appreciated the efforts of the sector to overcome the challenges posed by the economic downturn, particularly its success in developing low-income public housing.

However, he also noted the sector’s shortcomings, including low-quality construction and planning that failed to meet the requirements of development.

To address these shortcomings, Dung asked the ministry to review its regulatory scheme and endeavor to make detailed plans suitable to the actual conditions of each locality as well as to continue studying new systems of construction management to ensure the safety and quality of construction works.

The ministry was requested to study and build strategies for developing and more closely supervising the real estate market, creating favourable conditions for construction enterprises to adapt to the fierce competition arising in the context of international integration.

Dung also asked the ministry to audit State-owned enterprises under the ministry’s management, hasten their equitisation and devise solutions for enterprises posting long-term losses.

Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung acknowledged the existing weaknesses of the sector, noting that some construction projects were still behind schedule, the real estate market was developing unstably, and the exploitation of natural resource to produce building materials was wasteful.

The ministry was determined this year to complete a regulatory structure for urban areas, housing and real estate businesses, he said. It would adjust overall urban plans through 2025 and the national urban development programme for 2010-15, as well as implement the national housing development programme through 2020.

The ministry would also continue to review implementation of construction projects in new urban areas, detecting shortcomings and working out measures to ensure technical infrastructure in these new urban areas is co-ordinated with the regional and national infrastructure, the minister said.

The ministry would also commit to improving the quality of human resources training to satisfy the demands of the construction sector, while boosting research and development in the production of construction materials.
Drastic measures would be taken to hasten the progress of key national projects, the minister vowed.