Tong Van Nga, chairman of Vietnam Association for Building Materials, noted that despite enduring heavy effects from the pandemic, the country’s construction sector still expanded 8-8.5 per cent in 2022.

Also, the urbanisation pace inched up 1.2 per cent reaching 41.7 per cent last year, instrumental to a more vibrant machinery and equipment market to feed investment and construction needs.

Total machinery and equipment import value is expected to surge 3-6 per cent this year

Amid exacerbating competition between local and foreign players, local contractors have embraced radical changes, capitalising on machinery and technology investment to improve their execution and management expertise.

Machinery and technology development helps construction businesses to boost efficiency and precision in execution, from savings on materials and fuel, to personnel costs.

“The demand for importing and updating new machinery and equipment for the construction sector is expected to further swell to underpin the sector’s anticipated growth, approximating 6.5 per cent in 2023,” said Nga.

A representative from Tin Quang Equipment JSC (TQEQ), an authorised agent providing branded machinery for partners from the US, Japan and South Korea in the Vietnamese market, said that the country had enticed many foreign distributors of machinery and equipment in the construction sector.

Despite slightly diminishing revenue figures in the last two years due to pandemic effects, the market signals are improving, the source added.

Better market signals are also evident in the number of foreign businesses registered to join Contech Vietnam 2023, an international exhibition tailored to Construction, Mining and Transport - Machinery, Equipment, Technology, Vehicles and Materials slated for April.

Le Thi Lan Anh, director of Hanoi Advertising and International Fair JSC, the fair organiser, said she was surprised with the high number of firms from Asia and Europe having registered to participate in the fair, and the occasion would help local peers to reach equipment innovation targets for improved efficiency and work quality.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Linh, director of Green Laser Co., Ltd., a firm under China’s Senfeng Group active in providing construction machinery and equipment such as laser cutters and welders, will soon join Contech Vietnam 2023 and said that from late 2022 Senfeng has worked on a plan to come back Vietnam to enhance business networking after a lull due to the pandemic.

“Displaying products at Contech Vietnam 2023 marks this comeback,” said Linh.

The country’s spending on machinery and equipment imports is expected to surge 3-6 per cent in 2023. Last year, Vietnam’s total import value amounted to $358.9 billion, up 7.8 per cent on-year.