CIOB educates construction industry stakeholders on new opportunities
The Ceylon Institute of Builders, a premier construction institution and service provider in the construction industry organized an awareness seminar for decision makers, professionals and other industry stakeholders on the new opportunities available with the new government.
The seminar titled ‘New opportunities in the Sri Lankan construction industry’ was held on August 25th at Hotel Taj Samudra.
Dr. Priyathbandu Wickrama, Secretary, Ministry of Water Supply, Ananda Samarasinghe, Dy. General Manager Consultancy, Urban Development Authority, Ranjan Sibera, Director - Infrastructure and IT, Board of Investment, Dr. Rohan Karunaratne, President, CIOB, Eng. Saliya Kaluarachi, Hon. Secretary, CIOB joined as presenters of the programme.
In the keynote speech, Dr. Priyathbandu Wickrama stated that the government will act as a catalyst to support the construction industry and will make the payments due to the construction companies through the proposed interim budget.
He further stated that there are plans to develop 4 main cities i.e. Hambatota, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Colombo with 9 economic corridors. A port and an airport will also be developed in these main cities. He also said that the government will use the overseas construction companies for foreign investments and offer sub contracts to local companies in mega projects. Local construction companies will be the builders for local investments.
Dr. Priyathbandu Wickrama informed the participants that the government expects to spend about Rs.790 billion on various water projects developments in the next few years. He said that they need skilled construction contractors.
The government believes that there are many opportunities available for the construction industry in a framework made under a national policy.
Ranjan Sibera stated that the government has decided Construction as a main Industry to achieve its goals. They have called for international players to undertake international projects. BOI hopes to contribute 5 percent to the GDP through the construction industry. Strategic Development Act can be used to streamline the approval process. UDA was instructed to release lands swiftly.
The building with 5 towers for Colombo International Monitory Centre in the Port City has already been planned with an investment of US$.1 billion. This has been approved by the Cabinet of Ministers and the BOI in the gazette issued last month.
Dr. Rohan Karunaratne stated that he wishes to support the CIOB membership and the industry in particular with the new opportunities available for them under the new development plans in Sri Lanka.
He said that the industry was badly affected during the last few years. With the mandate given by the majority of people, the country has acquired a strong leadership. He said that they are hopeful for the industry to reach its golden era once again. To achieve the expected development and financial stability, CIOB intend supporting the industry stakeholders by disseminating information through seminars and forums from time to time.
CIOB members representing all major and specialist construction companies and branded suppliers, professionals, academics and other interested parties from the industry participated at this successful seminar.