Infrastructure investments fuel surge Qatar's construction industry

 Qatar's ongoing construction boom is attracting worldwide attention from manufacturers and suppliers of tools, construction material and hardware, looking to tap into the growing demand from the strengthening Gulf state.
 Fuelled by large-scale investments in the creation of top-class infrastructure, pub-lic facilities and commercial and residential properties in order to realise the ambitious goals of Nation Vision 2030, the Qatar con-struction industry has gained strong promi-nence in the region.
 Additionally, the surge in construction and infrastructure development has been further accelerated by Qatar winning the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2020. This envisions the creation of 9 all-new sta-dia and the renovation of an existing three, coupled with massive construction projects needed to house and to entertain the ex-pected flood of visitors and players for this world-renowned event.
 All these frenetic construction activities are set to keep the country's industry ticking over at a healthy growth rate of 12% annu-ally until 2015, according to recent research released by researchandmarkets.com.

Projects in the pipeline
 Among the major developments in the pipeline are projects for a US$7 billion international airport, a US$5.5 billion deep-water seaport and US$20 billion for new roads and highways, while constructing 12 Eco-Friendly stadiums has been estimated to cost over US$32 billion with the first sta-dium ready by 2015.

MEP market
The Middle East market for MEP (Me-chanical, Engineering and Plumbing) prod-ucts and services is set to boom on the back of a revived construction industry. This was confirmed by recent research that indicated that the Middle East market would be worth US$22.44 billion by 2013 - nearly double the 2008 figure of US$13.53 billion - registering a CAGR of 10.8 %.
 Spurred on by spending on infrastructural projects and continued investments in com-mercial, residential and hospitality projects, the markets of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are expected to record the fastest growth rates. These countries, along with the UAE are pre-dicted to be the most significant markets in the area, looking into the future.
According to the report issued by Frost & Sullivan, mechanical services accounted for 37.6% of the overall MEP sector, while elec-trical services made up 43.2% and, plumb-ing, 19.2%. Traditionally, developments in the commercial, residential, hospitality and infrastructure segments have been the main drivers of demand for MEP products around the region.
With the economic outlook for the region looking steady, there is sustained demand for tools and machinery driven by healthy growth rates and a construction industry which is picking up once more. The Middle East market for hardware, tools and construc-tion equipment and machinery is largely import driven, as there is little in the way of local manufacturing or production.