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Jobs are taken by foreign hands, local constructors warn
Chinese contractors have won many key construction projects in Vietnam and are undermining the local economy by using Chinese workers, products and equipment, a seminar in Hanoi heard last Friday.
Many of the products and equipment are available in Vietnam, local constructors said.
The seminar was held to discus the government’s stimulus program for the building sector.
As the country faces its lowest pace of expansion in a decade, the government is planning to boost spending on infrastructure and industrial projects to try to boost industrial growth.
However, Tran Ngoc Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Federation of Civil Engineering Associations, said foreign contractors, mostly Chinese companies, have won numerous key projects in the electricity, cement, building and chemical sectors in Vietnam.
“It’s of great concern that Chinese contractors usually bring thousands of workers and equipment [to Vietnam], while Vietnam is totally capable of providing for such needs,” Hung said.
Nguyen Cong Luc, a senior official at the Government Office, said he knew one construction project in northeastern Quang Ninh Province employed more than 2,000 Chinese workers.
Many Chinese workers in Vietnam hold only tourist visas, not working visas, said Tran Van Huynh, chairman of the Vietnam Construction Material Association.
Huynh said he once visited a cement plant built by Chinese contractors in Vietnam and found “even a simple toilet was imported from China, not made in Vietnam.”
Tran Hong Mai of the Ministry of Construction said Chinese contractors often won contracts because they may have received “several forms of support from their country, including fiscal benefits, to lower the price of the tender.”
According to the Law on Procurement, Vietnamese bidders must be prioritized, Mai said, adding many investors may have forgotten the regulation.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the country will invest nearly US$110 billion in developing the power, construction materials and chemical industries between 2000 and 2015.
The online VietnamNet newswire earlier this month said the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry has also called for the government to give preference to local businesses in selecting general contractors for major industrial projects.
No local contractors could beat their Chinese rivals in terms of bidding prices, the association claimed.
Of 11 coal-fired power plants and 18 cement plants under construction nationwide, Vietnamese companies could win only one contract in each category, it said.
However, at a recent meeting at the MoIT, Deputy Minister Bui Xuan Khu stressed the importance of transparent procurement auctions.
The government could not limit the number of foreign bidders in the auctions, he said.
VNA, Thanh nien
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