Local construction industry in collective effort to grab tenders from foreign giants

The local construction industry stakeholders are hoping to collaborate with each other and receive state support to compete with the influx of foreign construction giants, as more Western Province Megapolis projects are tendered by the government.

“We need to have a consortium and bag those large constructions in our country,” Ceylon Institute of Builders (CIOB) President Dr. Rohan Karunaratne said last week, during the launch of a Hatton National Bank credit card for the CIOB members.

The CIOB launched its Master Builder programme, which would allow several local parties to form consortiums and pursue large construction projects.

Dr. Karunaratne noted that local construction firms are not able to compete with foreign entrants.

“With all this construction, we have ample opportunities, but ladies and gentlemen, it’s not the truth. It’s very hard to fight with those (foreign) companies. They have enough quantities of resources: financial, material and labour,” Dr. Karunaratne said.

He noted how Colombo’s solid waste incinerator project tenders under the Western Province Megapolis Project had been bagged by foreign parties recently.

Dr. Karunaratne said that the Port City, Western Province Megapolis Project, higher urbanization and increasing tourism arrivals would lead to higher demand for construction compared to the past couple of years.