Today in Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi, BRE signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (DOSTE) – part of Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction (VNMOC) – on sustainable infrastructure, smart cities and green buildings.

 The signing ceremony formed part of the celebration of 45 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam. It was witnessed by the Vice Minister Phan Thi My Linh of VNMOC and the Rt Hon Edward Vaizey MP, the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Vietnam. The agreement aims to create an open platform that brings together leading organisations in the UK and Vietnam, to collaborate in supporting Vietnam’s construction industry and built environment.

The platform is underpinned by BRE’s internationally recognised standards, tools, education services and partnerships (STEP). They will be particularly used in the area of ‘digital construction’, which covers the priority topics of energy efficiency, green buildings, sustainable infrastructure and smart cities.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Minister Madam Linh said, “In our country we have fast growth and many challenges, and there is a need for research, innovation and partnerships. We look forward to beginning our cooperation with BRE.”

Edward Vaisey said, “I am pleased that BRE, which has used its leading products, services, standards, certification and qualifications to improve buildings and infrastructure all over the world, has committed to supporting the Ministry of Construction with this STEP platform that addresses critically important issues.”

The MOU will see BRE and DOSTE collaborate in the following STEP platform areas:

• Standards: covering regulation, standards, codes of practice, certification, labelling schemes, quality assurance, compliance and safety.
• Tools: used for measurement, monitoring, modelling, assessment of construction best practice and benchmarking of key performance indicators of construction excellence and the built environment.
• Education: covering training, upskilling, qualifications and continuous professional development and exchange programmes.
• Partnership: innovations in industry and collaborations related new technologies, advanced manufacturing, smart materials, smart products and smart systems.

The open platform enables the parties to bring in other organisations with specialist skills and expertise. They can also engage with leading local organisations in Vietnam to promote best practice, raise the quality of Vietnam’s construction industry, and develop a built environment that can meet international benchmarks and standards. BRE’s Group Director for the Asia Pacific region,

Jaya Skandamoorthy added: “We are very pleased to be signing this agreement with the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, and supporting the key growth challenges of the country. Lessons from this experience in Vietnam can also be applied to neighbouring countries to support economic growth and greater bi-lateral trade and investment between UK and the ASEAN region”

This agreement follows a visit by a delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction to BRE’s UK headquarters in September this year, and builds on the establishment of BRE China in Shenzhen in 2016 and its growth in the Asia Pacific region.

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Photograph of the MOU ceremony available from the BRE Flickr site

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About 

BRE BRE is a world leading building and fire science centre, owned by the BRE Trust – a registered charity The Trust uses profits made by the BRE Group to fund new research and built environment education.  BRE’s clients use our sustainability, safety and security services, the BRE Academy and our Innovation Centres, to deliver on their social, environmental and economic goals. We are committed to developing and sharing knowledge on every aspect of the built environment and we work collaboratively to set the standards for the way buildings, homes and communities are built to keep people safe, protect the environment, make buildings affordable and to create places where people want to live, work and play.  

About DOSTE:

The Science, Technology and Environment Department (DOSTE) is an agency belonging to the Vietnam Ministry of Construction, performing the function to advise the Minister on state management of the science, technology and environment in relation to assigned tasks of the Ministry. The scope of tasks include development and management of technical standards and codes, scientific research and technological development, application and transfer of advanced technologies, measurement and quality products - goods; industrial property; technical barriers to trade, environmental protection, science and technology information in the state management fields in charge of the Ministry.