Vietnam: Engineering Firms Hard to Compete in Domestic Playing Field
Vietnamese engineering enterprises are finding hard to survive and compete even at domestic market as foreign-invested firms have won many industrial projects in Vietnam.
The situation is attributed to huge capital demand and inappropriate policies, said Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, chairman of the Council for Vietnam Engineering Enterprises Association.
Energy, construction material, chemical and bauxite ore exploitation industries alone need massive capital to import equipment and technology, Thu said.
The association estimates capital demand by the electricity, aluminum and cement industries at US$107 billion in the 2007-2025 period, he added.
However, under the current policies, most of investment projects selected foreign contractors instead of local ones, he said, elaborating that a big volume of capital for these projects imperturbably flew into selected foreign firms.
To deal with the situation, the association has proposed amending the Bidding Law toward allowing to appoint local contractors or organize bidding for domestic contractors only.
Foreign investors can join the projects by teaming up with domestic firms or acting as sub-contractors, the association suggested.
The law should also mention origins of equipment for bidding projects when selecting contractors, the association recommended.
Vietnam targeted to become an industrialized nation by 2020. The Southeast-Asian country will build 113 industrial parks from now to 2015 on a total area of 29,257 hectares. (Investment)
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