Coteccons chair says losing Long Thanh airport bid 'not long-term' problem

"Long Thanh was a big opportunity that we missed. I was upset when we lost the bid. But that does not mean we go home and give up," he told VnExpress in answer to a question at the company’s annual general meeting Tuesday.

Duisenov was referring to a bid to build a terminal at Long Thanh, a mega airport under construction in the southern province of Dong Nai. The sub-project is worth VND35 trillion, the largest of all Long Thanh sub-projects.

The Coteccons-led Hoa Lu Consortium was among three bidders. The winner was Vietur, a Vietnam-Turkey consortium.

Coteccons CEO Vo Hoang Lam said the failure to win the bid gave the company lessons in bidding for public infrastructure projects. The company will implement more innovative approaches to similar projects in the future.

Lam added that Long Thanh is only one of many key infrastructure projects, as Vietnam will need to develop quickly, especially in urban areas, to speed up economic recovery in the next three to five years.

The construction sector is set to expand by 40-45% and Coteccons has the chance to hold a major piece of that pie, he said.

Although the focus of the company will be major infrastructure projects, it will also expand into social housing and renewable energy, he said.

Coteccons also plans to expand overseas to fulfill its target of $3 billion in annual revenue, even though it might take longer than 2025 as planned earlier.