Construct 2018 Exhibition

Inauguration ceremony of ‘Construct 2017’ was held on 25 August 2017 at BMICH. Chief Guest of this occasion was Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other special guests were Minister of Housing and Construction Sajith Premadasa, Minister of Home Affairs Vajira Abeywardena and Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training Chandima Weerakkody. Here the token of appreciation being presented to the Prime Minister by Athula Priyantha Galagoda and Susantha Liyanarachchi, Chairman and 1st Vice Chairman of National Construction Association of Sri Lanka respectively and Construct 2017 Organising Committee Chairman Ruwan De Silva

The 18th edition of Sri Lanka’s largest, most successful and prestigious construction exhibition, Construct 2018 will be held from 24-26 August at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial International Exhibition Centre. The Construct Exhibition is an annual event organised by the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) since 1994. NCASL is the main association representing and giving leadership to the construction industry in Sri Lanka. 

Keeping with the current trend in the global construction industry, the organisers have aptly named the theme of the exhibition as ‘Inno-Smart Sri Lanka’. The Construct 2018 will cover an exhibition area of more than 35,000 square feet for over 350 exhibitors and expect more than 40,000 local and international visitors comprised of manufacturers, service providers, contractors, developers, architects, quantity surveyors, engineers, consultants, buyers and industrial professionals from the construction industry. Also, decision makers from state and private sector organisations, ministries, provincial councils, district and divisional secretariats will be invited to participate in the exhibition.

The exhibition is expected to bring together the entire value chain of construction and building industry under one roof. Organisations from construction and other allied industries, manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of construction related machinery and tools, technology providers and service providers will be exhibiting their latest state of the art offerings at the exhibition.

The Construct Exhibition will provide the exhibitors with enormous opportunities to introduce their latest technologies, launch their new products and solutions, network with potential buyers and gain valuable insight in to the Sri Lankan construction market place. 

Visitors at the exhibition will be able to view all aspects in construction and infrastructure development, including even the smallest component to the heavy machinery and equipment and gain substantial knowledge and awareness of the latest technology. Construct 2018 will have prominent industry experts, stakeholders and decision makers in attendance along with new product launches and added features, making it an ideal event to source new products, learn about the latest developments in the global construction industry, network and usher in new contacts and business opportunities. The organisers also have invited students of construction related disciplines from universities and technical colleges to visit the Construct 2018 and gain more knowledge about the construction industry. This will increase the number of visitors at the Construct 2018 which in turn will benefit the exhibitors and the entire construction industry of Sri Lanka.

The event will also see regional representation through participation of organisations and delegates from countries in SAARC and Asia Pacific regions. The exhibition also will receive delegations from member associations of IFAWPCA (International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors’ Associations). The new features that will be introduced during this year’s exhibition will include re-designed layout to ensure all stall holders are given the best opportunity to showcase their products, increase participation of educational and training institutions, inclusion of outdoor Green stalls exclusively for the environmentally sensitive product display and high quality Exhibitor Directory, depicting information about the sponsors, stall holders and their product offerings. 

Another notable feature of this exhibition will be the expanded area for Construction Machinery and Equipment (CME) show where all the major players of the field will showcase their products. A series of seminars will also be conducted at the venue to educate the viewers and the others on different technical aspects related to construction and supporting services.

Construct 2018 exhibition Organising Committee Chairman Ruwan De Silva was upbeat about the exhibition when he mentioned, “Our vision is to provide a good platform, to enhance the capacity and capability of the stakeholders, in the field of construction to be on par with the global competitors and the Construct Exhibition to be rated as the best exhibition in the South Asian region. With the wide scale preparations for Construct 2018, we are very confident that this year’s Construct 2018 will be the event to watch out for in the construction industry.” 

He went on to state that there was a heavy demand for stalls and all the stalls were sold out within a few days of announcing the exhibition. He further quoted, “As the founder and the architect of this mega exhibition, I am happy to note that the Construct Exhibition that we had initiated in a small scale in 1994 has grown in stature to reach international standards and is participated by both Sri Lankan and international construction companies. We are delighted to report that 16 organisations have volunteered to sponsor the event, demonstrating the effectiveness of the exhibition. Even though, there was a high demand for the stalls in the exhibition area, we were reluctantly compelled to reject our clients due to unavailability of stall space. My biggest challenge at present is to cope up with the demand for stalls as most of the domestic and foreign companies are constantly worrying us to give them space at the venue to exhibit their products and services. We look forward to having a record number of visitors visiting the exhibition. We also thank all of our sponsors and especially Alumex, the Platinum sponsors and Rhino Roofing, Gold sponsors.”

His only regret is that, “Our country doesn’t have large international standard exhibition centres while countries in the region such as India, Malaysia, and Singapore etc. boost of exhibition centres that can accommodate over 1,000 stallholders. Due to this constraint, the exhibitors opt to go to other countries as they don’t get stall space to participate in the exhibitions here. This result in our country losing valuable foreign exchange. Sri Lanka is known in historical times as a trade hub where traders from various countries visit to sell and buy items. 

“One of the goals of the Government is to make Sri Lanka the trade hub of the region in the lines of Singapore or Dubai. But, in order for the international exhibitors to participate and exhibit their products, the country should have large exhibition centres that can match the standard of the centres available in other countries. Only if large number of internationally renowned companies participates in the exhibitions, we can attract more international visitors. This in turn, will give an opportunity for the local entrepreneurs to exhibit and promote their products and services to the international visitors and get valuable export orders. Besides, offering sufficient exhibition space, will enable foreign companies to display their environmental friendly and energy efficient products. 

“The business community of Sri Lanka has built strong international relationship and we have the capability to organise mega exhibitions but are severely handicapped by lack of large exhibition centres. Therefore, I earnestly request the Government of Sri Lanka to support us to expand our exhibition to greater heights by giving us the BMICH Conference Hall or any other large hall in the city of Colombo, with proper infrastructure facilities to accommodate around 1,000 exhibitors in the same hall. This would result in more bilateral trade with other countries and increase in revenue from tourism.” 

Ruwan De Silva also took this opportunity to invite the public to visit the exhibition to learn about the latest innovation in the building, housing and construction industry worldwide and view the display of some of the most advanced construction equipment and solutions. In addition, the visitors will be able to witness the high quality skills and capacity of the Sri Lankan Construction Industry.

National Construction Association of Sri Lanka (NCASL) is the main and the most represented association for the construction industry organisations and professionals in Sri Lanka. The association has over two thousand members and represented through its branches in all the provinces in the country. Vision of the association is to ‘Be the effective national organisation of construction contractors in Sri Lanka and the premier centre of excellence in the construction industry’.

Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera was the Chief Guest at the Construct 2018 press conference and sponsors night. Also seen are 2nd Vice Chairman Darinton Paul, Hony. Secretary Pubudu Kamal Perera, Hony. Treasurer W.A.W. Perera, Chief Executive Officer B.L. Ramanayake from NCASL and Kumar Samarasinghe, Director – Marketing of Singer Sri Lanka