HÀ NỘI — The construction industry is estimated to expand at around 7.8- 8.2 per cent this year, the highest rate since 2020, according to a Ministry of Construction report.

The ministry’s Chief Officer Ngô Lâm said that the construction industry had significantly contributed to the overall economic growth this year. The sector contributed around 6.4 – 7.3 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The urbanisation rate was 44.3 per cent, higher than the National Assembly’s target of 43.7 per cent.

Lâm said that improving the institutions was the spotlight this year, with the National Assembly’s approvals for the Law on Housing and the Law on Real Estate Business to take effect on August 1, 2024 instead of January 1, 2025 and the Law on Urban and Rural Planning.

The ministry also accelerated the implementation of the project to develop one million social housing units by 2030. In all 644 social housing projects, with a total of 580,109 apartments, had been developed since 2021. Among them, 96 projects with a total of 57,652 units had been completed, 133 projects with 110,217 units were under construction, while the rest had been given the nod in terms of investment policies.

With regard to the credit package, worth VNĐ120 trillion (US$4.7 billion) for social housing development and purchase, 36 out of 63 provinces and cities had announced the list of eligible projects. To date, 16 projects had received loans from the package with the total of outstanding loans set at VNĐ1.727 trillion.

The ministry’s report also pointed out that the real estate market had seen positive improvements this year, with increases in supply sources and transactions of apartments, independent houses and land plots. 

Next year, the ministry set the target for urbanisation rate of at least 45 per cent and more than 100,000 social housing units to be completed. The average housing floor area per person would reach 27 sq.m. from a current 26.5 sq.m.

In order to achieve these goals, the ministry would continue to improve the legal framework and law enforcement next year.

Accordingly, the focus would be on speeding up the implementation of the project on developing social housing for low-income earners and workers in the 2021-30 period, along with the issuance of decrees and circulars guiding the implementation of the laws on housing and real estate business.

Data from Statista.com showed that Việt Nam’s construction sector contributed 6.7 per cent of the country’s GDP in 2023. — VNS