|
Pace of Construction Projects Still Strong
|
The pace of civil construction projects in Qatar continues on an upward trend despite a contraction or low growth in the sector across the GCC, according to a detailed study published yesterday.
The Proleads investigation, the most comprehensive and up-to-date study on the Qatar civil construction industry, examined projects across the real estate, infrastructure, leisure and entertainment sectors.
It found that the local industry, as at the end of March, boasted of 191 major projects worth a total of $82.5bn.
“While the Qatar economy is not immune to the global economic slowdown, it is expected to continue a reasonable rate of growth this year, driven by the benefits from a long-term strategy to export LNG from its vast gas field,” said Proleads Global director Emil Rademeyer, who authored the report, Insight Qatar.
He said Proleads found that despite the global credit crunch, all major Qatar projects were still in operation.
“Further analysis of completed projects found that 82% of all projects were late but that delays did not affect budgetary spending,” he added.
A similar investigation on UAE, published in February, found that over half of all civil construction projects had been suspended.
The data indicated only one major project in the real estate sector was cancelled in Qatar in 2008.
In Qatar, most sectors experienced growth in cash-flow over the greater part of 2008 except the leisure and entertainment sector, which saw a decline in the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, according to Proleads.
“In light of the current global credit crunch, a number of questions beg to be asked: Will the growth trend persevere despite global market uncertainties? If so, what are the projections for growth? Will things get worse and, if they do, how quickly will it change?”
On future projections, Rademeyer said: “Our investigation shows Qatar is showing good growth as a whole. Only the leisure and entertainment sector may see a slight decline from December 2008 to December 2009.”
Proleads said the accuracy of the data upon which the report is based is estimated at 90%.
The report contains a list of all major Qatari civil construction projects including the top five developers in Qatar: Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company; Barwa Real Estate Company; Energy City; Public Works Authority (Ashghal); and the New Doha International Airport Steering Committee.
|
|
|