Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam has beenfocusing on the development of non-fired adobe brick to gradually replace claybricks for construction. However, after nearly ten years of efforts, claybricks remain dominant.

The Ministry of Construction said thatnon-fired bricks help minimise environmental pollution, make use of availableindustry waste and shorten construction time.

Due to these advantages, policies have beenissued to encourage the production and use of the eco-friendly bricks.

Since 2008, the Government and the Ministryof Construction has issued legal documents on researching, producing and usingunburned construction materials. Any projects producing non-fired materialswere eligible for support between 2009 and 2015.

In 2014, the Government approved a masterplan for development of construction materials by 2020. A programme onenhancing the production and use of non-fired bricks in Vietnam by the Ministryof Science and Technology and Ministry of Construction became the key part ofthe plan.

The programme targets increasing the marketshare of non-fired bricks by between 20-25 percent by 2015 and between 30-40 percentby 2020.

However, it has not met the desired goals.

Figures from the Ministry of Constructionshowed that there were 41 businesses researching, designing, manufacturing andsupplying equipments on non-fired construction materials nationwide.

The output of non-fired bricks was about6.8 billion cubes, accounting for about 26 percent of the total output ofbuilding materials.

The output of burned clay bricks was 18billion of cubes.

Nguyen Dinh Hau, head of the ministry’sDepartment of Science and Technology said that unburned bricks were unpopularin Vietnam, especially in rural areas where few knew about them.

Pham Van Bac, head of the ministry’sConstruction Material Department said that the demand for non-firedconstruction materials was quite large, but its growth was not as expected.

Many consumers and investors preferredtraditional bricks as they were cheaper.

According to experts, the source of clayfor producing burned bricks in Vietnam was cheap and available, making it toughfor non-fired bricks to compete.

As a result, only some large non-firedbricks with holes could be consumed widely.

In addition, the use of non-fired bricksrequires strict technical requirement. Most builders are familiar with burnedclay bricks and simple tools while non-fired ones require specialisedconstruction tools.

Dao Danh Tung from the ConstructionMaterials Department said the policies were sufficient but not effective due toa shortage of stimulus policies and investment incentives for research anddevelopment of unburned bricks. Policies on taxes and fees were not promotedenough to attract businesses to invest in the field.

The field also lacks high-qualified humanresources.

Moreover, cooperation between institutes,universities and enterprises remains loose.

Currently, there is no national criteriasystem on non-fired materials, he said.

To boost the development of non-firedbricks, experts suggested more favourable policies be used to encourageinvestors to use non-fired products and support the consumption of theproducts.-VNS/VNA