Construction industry hopes for brighter '09

Despite the onset of the global economic crisis, the construction sector is still hoping that the year 2009 will still be bearable since prices of construction materials have gone down.

“The last quarter of 2008 was terrible and hopefully it was the bottom of it. Right now, everyone is cautious as we don't know how bad it will get for the upcoming year,” said Charles Kenneth Co, director hardware Co. Inc. in a recent interview.

Co said that their sector is hoping to still have a brighter year in 2009 despite that there is not much to look forward to as the financial crisis worsens and is predicted to hit the country this year.

Although he said that there are still several reasons to remain optimistic because projects in the city’s reclamation areas are scheduled to start which would mean more demand for construction products as well as more jobs to players in the sector.           

He said that as World Bank projected, they can only expect around two to three percent of growth for next year.

On the other hand, NEDA7 regional director Marlene Rodriguez recently reported in a Regional Development Council (RDC)-Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) meeting that of the third quarter of 2008 the services sector in Central Visayas which are supposed to have been “more resilient to pressure on the economy” have experienced the global economic turmoil.

Rodriguez said that construction activities in the region have suffered a slow growth as investors became cautious in pouring in their huge investments in the wake of the global economic crisis.

The high prices of construction materials in local market have also caused big ticket construction projects to be put on hold and made overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) cancel their plans to buy residential properties as they anticipated the worse effect of the crisis.

Rodriguez also said that there might be fewer construction projects to be started for the next six months of the coming year especially that economic drivers for the last years such as ICT, real estate and tourism sectors have also been under a slowdown.

Meanwhile, Cebu Contractors Association (CCA) president Peter Paul Dy urged the players in the construction sector to still be bullish and look at a brighter prospect for the coming year.

“We must always hope for a brighter year in 2009. All indications show that next year will not be an exciting year, to put it mildly. But, this should not be reason to sulk in the corner. All the more that we must be working together to lessen the negative impact that this financial crisis may bring to the industry in particular and the economy in general,” said Dy.

Anastacio Muntuerto Jr., Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry former president and a player in Cebu’s hardware and construction sector said that in another interview that consumers and players should take advantage of the currently lower construction material prices.

He said that since prices are currently at its lowest, there is a huge opportunity for investors and players to finish or to start any construction project.

“Early this year is the right time to construct because the materials are more affordable and cheaper compared to last year. Those who have money now and have construction projects should think of exploiting the situation while some can put their money on real estate investments because it is always a good hedge against inflation,” said Muntuerto.

On the other hand, Cebu Holdings Inc. president Francis O. Monera said that despite the threats of the current crisis, they are still looking at a good year this year.

After the inauguration of the I3 at the Asiatown IT Park in December this year, Monera said that more high-rise establishments should be expected to be constructed and operated at the location this year.

This will include their company-owned E Block, a mixed use development complex that will also complement the city’s flourishing business process outsourcing industry which economists have predicted to gain positive effects from the global economic crisis since global companies would tend to outsource operations which are not part of their core business in to trim down cost of operations.