Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction and the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office on July 5^th signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in applying a building information model (BIM) in Vietnam’s construction industry.

At the signing ceremony. (Source: VNA)

As part of activities in the global technical infrastructure programme funded by the UK Government’s Commonwealth Fund, this aims to build a master strategy of digitalisation in the field in Vietnam.

Under the MoU, the UK Government, through the UK’s digital construction institute, will work with the Steering Committee of BIM (Ministry of Construction’s Institute for Construction Economics) to develop standards and guidelines and support the implementation of a number of BIM pilot projects in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said that Vietnam is in the period of renovation and development, so its demand for construction investment is very large.

In recent times, the Government and the Ministry of Construction have always paid special attention to managing the investment efficiency of projects, he noted.

Vietnam’s goal is to strengthen the control of quality, transparency and publicity of construction investment projects, in order to shorten construction progress and reduce losses.

According to Sinh, the Prime Minister approved the BIM project in construction and operation of projects in Decision No. 2500 / QD-TTg dated December 22^nd, 2016 with the aim of improving productivity, quality and efficiency in the building sector.

The UK has extensive experience in urban development and management, planning and construction, and it is also very successful in the BIM model, he noted, adding that cooperation with the UK side is hoped to help Vietnam complete institutions and standards in construction activities, thus early applying the BIM model in construction investment.

Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion at the Department for International Trade of the UK said she was impressed by Vietnam's great potential and demand for both public and private technical infrastructure projects.

The UK has built a world-class system for using BIM in public works to save construction costs, she stressed.

With its experience, the UK Government would like to provide information about the BIM application for Vietnam, thus helping the Southeast Asian nation successfully implement this model.

UK companies, which boast expertise in executing high-quality infrastructure projects around the globe, can help Vietnam implement investment projects in this field efficiently and sustainably, she affirmed.

The application of BIM in the construction industry is expected to contribute to raising productivity, quality and efficiency in construction investment activities and operation management. This is an important solution to approach the 4^th Industrial Revolution of the construction sector./.

VNF/VNA