The number of overseas projects secured by local contractors and consultants doubled from 289 projects in 2014 to 594 in 2015, showed the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Construction Export Survey 2016.
This comes as more Singapore firms ventured overseas in 2015 at 62 consultancy firms and 38 contractors, up from 26 consultancy firms and 22 contractors during the previous year.
Singapore construction firms mostly expanded into India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and UAE.
Despite the rise in overseas construction projects, the total value of overseas contracts secured remained stable at S$1.74 billion in 2015.
Majority of the overseas construction projects involved interior and renovation works as well as building construction works within the hospitality and residential sectors.
Singapore consultancy firms thrived in India, China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam, with the top four consultancy services provided being architectural, civil and structural, mechanical and electrical engineering designs as well as master planning.
“The overseas demand for such services were mainly in mixed developments and residential developments,” said the BCA.
Meanwhile, the survey also showed the top four concerns faced by the firms when venturing abroad – they are economic and political risks, uncertainty of payment collection, difficulties in finding overseas partners and lack of market information.
“BCA understands that breaking the initial barrier is crucial for subsequent internationalisation efforts. Hence, we actively reach out to established players, as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in achieving their first steps in internationalisation,” said BCA Group Director for International Development Koh Lin Ji.
In fact, BCA has been providing various services, including market sensing and business intelligence as well as market familiarisation mission trips, to help local companies overcome difficulties in their initial internalisation steps.
This article was edited by Denise Djong.
