Doha: The national strategic initiatives carried out by Qatar are assertive in drawing foreign investments in the construction market amidst facing challenges, said an expert.

Colin McBride, Director of Cost Management, Qatar at Turner & Townsend said: “Despite the challenges the sector is facing, state initiatives like Qatar’s National Vision 2030 promise to spur on activity and continue to attract foreign investment, particularly as inflation cools in the market. Updates to regulations, payment conditions, and sustainability practices are also adding to the industry’s potential for growth.”

Emphasising on the foremost challenges in the market, McBride said: “Capacity is the main challenge confronting the sector here. A less consistent pipeline of work, along with high costs for accommodation, is drawing workers to other markets. Competing projects in neighboring countries, in particular the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where margins are typically higher, are also tempting for construction workers across the region. As a result, labour availability is limited, placing pressure on timescales and costs.”

He further explained that the cost of materials is also witnessing an upsurge, partly due to the increasing inflation rate in Europe over the past two years.

On the other hand, climate change issues are extending to extreme temperatures across the Middle East, and to address this, specialist materials and energy-efficient cooling technologies across buildings are needed, which intrinsically add to costs. McBride noted that “Clients are working hard to mitigate rising material prices through careful procurement processes and some are exploring alternative supply chains in Asia to reduce reliance on the European market given its recent higher inflationary environment.”

He further stressed that digitalisation offers immense possibility for mitigating the impact of challenges around costs in addition to capacity. It also improves project and cost management, boosting its visibility and vigilance across key programmes, and address capacity shortages by improving efficiency. This eventuates in a smoother process, with more expedient, effective delivery.

Qatar’s construction realm, however, is progressing toward a positive trajectory of growth with analysts at Research and Markets stating that the industry is estimated to amount to QR133.5m.

He said “Overall, the future for Qatar’s construction market is bright. To capitalise on the upcoming opportunities, it will be beneficial for clients to ensure that they have the right procurement and contracting models set up to navigate the crunch on capacity and invest in modernising their processes sooner rather than later.”

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