As a result, we see an influx of international construction and consultancy companies into the region. Des pite the present currency crisis, this trend will continue for a number of reasons. One, the long-term prospects of the construction industry remain bullish. Two, foreign expertise and modern technology are needed to handle infrastructure projects that are increasingly bigger in scale and also increasingly complex in nature. The third reason is that in line with free trade practices, governments themselves are opening up their domestic markets to international competitors.
Globalisation brings about competition.
But globalisation also brings about new business opportunities. We can prosper by taking the right measures to tap the vast business opportunities available, or we can be relegated to second-class players if we do not enhance our competitiveness. This is the critical challenge confronting those in the construction industry. To become more competitive, construction and design firms must intensify their efforts to re-engineer their business operations. This objective can be achieved in two ways.