Hanoi (VNA)ꦉ – The Ministry of Construction will pay attention to urban planning and management in 2023, according to Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi.

Specifically, the ministry will focus on improving the quality of planning to match the mindset, vision, and forecasting while ensuring feasibility. It is necessary to exercise strict control in the stages of planning appraisal and adjustment, as well as strengthen local inspection and guidance activities, and rectify local authorities’ capacities and conduct in planning issues. At the same time, legal regulations and management tools will continue to be perfected to strictly control the process of synchronous urban development – one that goes in tandem with industrialisation, modernisation, rural development, enhancing the competitiveness of urban areas, effectively using resources, especially resources from land, from urban space development, stated Nghi. According to the minister, in 2023 and the coming years, the construction industry will continue to focus on three key breakthroughs identified for the 2021-2026 term of the industry. They are perfecting the legal institution on construction to strengthen state management, creating a favourable and open environment for people and businesses, and furthering decentralisation to remove bottlenecks that hinder the development of the industry and the operation of enterprises. Regarding the growth of the sector last year, Minister Nghi said that the industry recorded a growth rate of 8.17%, significantly higher than the objective of 5-5.6% The urbanisation rate nationwide hit 41.7%, 1.2% higher than 2021. The proportion of the urban population having access to clean water through a centralised water supply system reached 94.2%, up 2.2% compared to the previous year. The average floor space for each person in the country reached 25.5sq.m., up 0.5sq.m compared to that in 2021. While the construction material market has seen serious fluctuations, especially a spike in costs in the early half of 2022, the market has stabilised from the third quarter of 2022 thanks to many efforts from the Ministry of Construction and localities. Nghi stated that the real estate market logged growth in the first months of 2022, but slowed down in the second half of the year due to many difficulties, especially the shortage of supply, lack of social housing, housing for low- and middle-income people, difficulties in mobilising and accessing capital sources, while corporate bonds in real estate began to reveal serious shortcomings and risks. Construction authorities and the Government are proposing many sets of measures to develop a healthy, stable real estate market in 2023, the minister added./.