‘Gov’t preparing 10-year plan for construction sector growth’

AMMAN — A 10-year action plan for accelerating growth in the construction sector will be announced by the end of this year, Minister of Public Works and Housing Sami Halaseh said on Monday. 

The minister noted that a strategy to deliver growth and create jobs for Jordanians over the next decade has been developed by the Jordan Engineers Association, the Jordan Contractors Association, the Architects and Engineers Business Council and the Housing Developers Association. 

The plan has been designed to ensure that the sector can contribute to the realisation of the Kingdom’s broader goals and aspirations over the next decade, as outlined in the Jordan 2025 vision.

Halaseh made the remarks during a seminar on concrete, cement and soil technology in Amman, attended by a number of experts and executives of firms working in the field of construction. 

“All participants from across the sector have agreed that our biggest challenge over the next decade is ‘raising the bar’ on quality and excellence... the quality management systems of our companies, and the quality and integrity of our regulatory standards and procurement processes,” he added.

Halaseh said the construction, engineering and housing cluster is the second biggest economic sector in Jordan, behind manufacturing, and contributed around $3 billion to the country’s gross domestic product in 2014.   

“The cluster is also one of the fastest growing [sectors]; it experienced an 8 per cent annual average growth rate between 2000 and 2014,” he continued, adding that it is a “critical catalyst” for other sectors in Jordan as well. 

“We build the infrastructure for our ICT, energy and transport sectors, we provide significant demand for our financial services sector, and we build the resorts and infrastructure for our tourism and hospitality sector.”

“As we look ahead beyond the current turmoil across our region, Jordan sits in the middle and is well placed to help reconstruct the infrastructure and housing needs of our neighbours,” Halaseh added.   

The nation has engineers that are widely recognised across the region for the quality of their professional skills, he noted, adding that the Kingdom also has architect and consulting firms that have won international awards and win competitively tendered work around the world. 

“And we have contractors and housing developers ready and eager to export their knowledge and services around the region,” the minister said.