Seminar on ‘Measures to Revive the Domestic Construction Industry’

Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka, the apex representative body of the construction industry, has organised a timely seminar under the theme, ‘Measures to Revive the Domestic Construction Industry’. The seminar will commence at 1.30 pm on 27 February at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute at Independence Avenue, Colombo 7.

The construction industry contributes approximately 10% to the national GDP and provides direct employment to 650,000. In any country, the performance of the construction industry is very often considered the barometer of economic development. 

Last year, due to the slowdown of the economy, the construction industry was the first affected. This situation became aggravated during the constitutional crisis in October 2018 due to non-receipt of payments by those involved in the construction industry. When the industry gradually recovered with payments received, the Easter Sunday bomb attacks happened. Since then, the industry is yet to recover, and most construction companies have not had their bills settled since last September. The total amount outstanding from Government agencies is over Rs. 100 billion. It is in this background that the Chamber has organised this important seminar. 

The challenge would be to sustain a healthy growth rate, whilst identifying and addressing the industry woes that act as impediments to continued domestic development of the construction industry, such as cash flow problems due to delayed payments, lack of sufficient workload, unequal competition from foreign companies, high cost of construction, delays in planning approvals, skills shortage, problems in supply of local materials, and corruption in Government procurement, to name a few. 

Whilst identifying such ills and proposing means to overcome these impediments, this seminar will also give a participant insights into the problems associated with adjudication procedure for expeditious settlement of disputes on construction projects. Also amongst the topics, methods adopted by other countries to involve private sector on infrastructure development without having the Government to borrow further will be explored as a solution, to ensure rapid economic development in spite of the financial problem faced by the Government at present. 

Finally an unique hitherto lesser known venture that has been advocated and been given a prominent position by the present regime – to promote the export of construction services as a source of foreign exchange earnings – will be presented as a case study. 

All these and more, especially the forward thrust and thinking about this important sector by the present Government, will be freely discussed at this timely seminar, and all those involved in the construction sector are indeed encouraged to participate. 

For reservations, please contact The Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka at Red Cross Building, 8th Floor, No.106, Anagarika Dharmapala Mw, Colombo 07 on 011-2 66 77 00 or email your request to [email protected].