Intelligence firm Timetric forecast a compound annual growth rate for the sector of 4.88 per cent between 2012 and 2016.

 

Its study, Construction in Singapore – Key Trends and Opportunities to 2016, found the industry had soared in value since the global downturn started.

 

Singapore’s construction sector grew by a CAGR of 11.6 per cent from 2007 to 2011, and was worth £14.6 billion by the end of this period.

 

In contrast with much of the world, Singapore had a budget surplus in 2011, at 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product. The country had unemployment of below 2 per cent in the third quarter of 2012.

 

Singapore’s government last year allocated £240 million to boost rail and road infrastructure nationwide.

 

When the Downtown Line project is completed in 2017, it will be the longest driverless underground line in Singapore, used by 500,000 commuters a day.

 

Timetric said: ‘The increased public spending will not just boost infrastructure, but will have a positive effect on all construction markets in the coming years.’

 

Residential work, the largest market behind infrastructure, is expected to record a CAGR of 4.67 per cent to a value of £4.9bn by the end of 2016.

 

The industrial construction market is forecast to post a CAGR of 4.27 per cent to a value of US$3.3bn.

 

Tim Bowder-Ridger, managing director at Conran and Partners, said the London-based practice was targeting more work in Singapore.

 

‘The Singaporean government has set aside a lot of money for infrastructure and that will have a substantial knock-on effect for the industry,’ he told AJ.

 

‘There is a lot of Chinese money in Singapore but the construction law is based on English law, and the language is primarily English.’

 

(Source: ASrchitects Journal)