At the conference on infrastructure development and trends, held by cement manufacturer INSEE Vietnam in HCMC, experts agreed that construction is a major sector in most countries worldwide and has reported a high growth rate, especially in Asian countries.
Countries worldwide annually spend US$100 trillion developing high-rise buildings and urban infrastructure projects.
Regarding the infrastructure development in Vietnam, Nirukt Sapru, CEO for Vietnam, ASEAN and South Asia Cluster Markets at Standard Chartered Bank, said that Vietnam is in dire need of capital to develop its infrastructure. The country should issue new policies on lending to infrastructure projects.
In addition, the State and investors should share risks in public-private partnership investment projects.
Infrastructure development will result in rapid urbanization and put pressure on the environment, Sapru noted, adding that the insignificant improvements in productivity in the construction sector has wasted resources and raised costs for the country.
According to Philippe Richart, board member of Siam City Cement Public Co., Ltd, and director of INSEE Vietnam, cement producers release 5%-7% of the total carbon dioxide volume in the world.
In the cement production process, the clinker burning phase releases the most carbon dioxide as it needs a high temperature. However, cement producers have worked out solutions to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the environment by utilizing heat to generate electricity.
For example, heat from the clinker burning process at an INSEE plant in Kien Giang Province has been used to generate more than a quarter of the electricity used by the plant, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25,000 tons per year.
Further, a quarter of the heat used in clinker burning at the plant has been replaced with the eco-friendly Ecocycle technology.
The construction sector can definitely improve its productivity under the digital process and with new construction techniques, Richart said.
