9-13 September 2009. Members of Prosperity Initiative’s Mekong Bamboo Team participated in this year’s VietBuild conference in Ho Chi Minh City. Over the last ten years, VietBuild has become Viet Nam’s biggest construction material exhibition. This year, more than 2,600 companies, ranging from material producers, construction companies, furniture manufacturers, designers and home décor consultants participated in VietBuild. 

As a non-profit organization, Prosperity Initiative was a unique participant in an event involving mainly businesses. The Mekong Bamboo Team’s agenda was to promote industrial bamboo products with high potential poverty impact in the Southern market and especially to potential investors in the construction materials field. Four Prosperity Initiative staff from the Business and Investment and Communications teams attended. 

Mekong Bamboo’s display consisted of different types of industrial bamboo products, in particular those made of pressed bamboo. During the exhibition, the Mekong Bamboo Team welcomed hundreds of visitors, mainly construction managers, material consultants, furniture producers and potential investors. As a result, Mekong Bamboo is now following up with a number of contacts interested in the market for high quality construction material. 

Through the event, Mekong Bamboo was able to gain a good understanding about this materials market and the potential of pressed bamboo as an industrial and construction material. The team also acted as market facilitators, connecting buyers with current producers of pressed bamboo, bamboo flooring, bamboo furniture, and bamboo construction board. Few participants were aware of the large companies producing these materials in northern Viet Nam and China, which demonstrated the need for Prosperity Initiative to help build more networks to help grow the industrial bamboo sector.

According to Mr Tống Văn Nga, former vice minister of the Ministry of Construction and current General Secretary of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, “The market for construction material, home products and home decor is developing very quickly both in terms of quality and quantity. VietBuild is the best place for businesses to introduce and promote their products".

For Prosperity Initiative, participation in such an exhibition allowed investors in the construction market to understand the great commercial value of bamboo.