The Quality of Construction Sector in the Middle East - Essay Example

Currently the Gulf alone has at least two trillion worth of active building projects. Leisure oriented construction is taking place as most of the Middle East countries develop a strategy of becoming major holiday destinations for the developed economies. The Middle East construction industry spending is projected to reach five trillion dollars in the next ten years, which translates to an eighty percent growth rate. The huge budgetary allocations and investments done by the United Arab Emirates government in the construction industry is commendable and this results to a huge number of construction jobs in the country.

Due to the huge investments in the construction industry, construction companies in the Middle East are adequately preparing to deal with the skills shortage in the industry and thus fill in the positions of structural specialists, environmental consultants, quantity surveyors, cost-engineering supervisors, planning engineers and concrete framework designer among others (Gorgenlander, 2011). In 2010, the Saudi Arabia government allocated one hundred and forty- seven billion dollars for to the construction sector.

Due to such huge budgetary allocations, Saudi Arabia is the largest construction market in the Middle East. Being the largest non-oil economic sector, the construction sector in Saudi Arabia is driven by, new mortgage laws that favor investment, high population growth, an increased demand by the foreign investors, high liquidity and low-interest financing (Iqbal, 2001). The government regulations in Saudi Arabia that ease the process of residential mortgages has ensured progressive development within the Middle East region.

The potential for construction projects has been strengthened by the development of finance support to the consumer market. Qatar has committed more than one hundred billion US dollars to be used in the construction industry (Sayed, 1997). Construction professionals around the world have caught the attention of the iconic structures in the Middle East such as the Burj Arab and the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The growing population in the Middle East is seeking high quality, cost-effective living and amenities in the region.

This rapid growth in the construction sector in the Middle East is echoed by the seventy-three huge construction projects such as Burj Khalifa, Al Reem Island, Dubai Metro, Dubai Mall and Meydan Race Course that Malaysia is undertaking across Middle East (Kazi, 2005). Several countries in the Middle East such as Iran have developed large-scale construction industry. This is attributed to the war that resulted to the destruction of many of the country’s structures and social amenities hence the need for restructuring and rebuilding.

The success in the construction sector in the Middle East has been attributed to the privatization of the sector. The construction industry in the Middle East is strengthened by oil rich countries in the region especially in the United Arab Emirates, the rise in oil income, the growth of non-oil sector, the tax-free environment and attractive salaries especially to the imported work force. However, the restart of Iran’s nuclear weapon program, the continued conflicts in the Gulf Cooperation Council region hence the worsening of security and the worsening of the international financial risks have greatly influenced negatively on the construction industry in the Middle East (Chiang, Raftery, & Anson, 2005).

Poor construction