EuroCham Forum: Rapid urbanization a time for more opportunities and regulations

• 3 June 2019
• Property Focus
• 1025 Views

In response to the ever-growing construction and property development across the country, more than 250 industry players and government authorities sat down at the Raffles Hotel to explore more opportunities and regulations for an increasingly sophisticated market.

“The property and construction sector have played an even bigger role in contributing to maintaining national growth,” said H.E, Lao Tipseiha, Secretary of State for Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction at the EuroCham’s fourth edition of construction and property forum on 31 May.

According to H.E Tipseiha, more than 1,400 construction projects were approved in the first 4 months of 2019 with an investment capital of US$2.7 billion, an increase of 67.37% from the US$1.6 billion investment in 2018.

With these rapidly growing projects, opportunities are arising, and attention is focused on the sector.

“Indeed, because this sector is increasing crowded, every player must find ways to stand out in order to win over the competition,” said Eurocham’s Chairman, Mr Arnaud Darc.

Before the forum began to explore market trends and standards in measurement, investment opportunities, healthcare infrastructure needs, and property management, H.E. George Edgar, Ambassador of the European Union highlighted a need for more regulations for the industry.

“I think it is also a time of stronger demand for the government, in terms of regulation, to make sure that this rapid urban development happens in a way that sustainable,” he said.

As the country expects to see the population to reach 18 million by 2030 with around 1.1 million new houses are needed by the same year, so there is a need to promote higher standard for the industry to ensure better quality of life.

According to H.E. George Edgar, the government ought to seriously look at things such as traffic, parking facilities, wastewater, standards for energy efficiency, as well as site waste management in order to ensure that the country’s property and construction sector grows sustainably.