Indonesia's construction industry to grow 14.26 percent

Jakarta, April 16 (Antara) - Indonesia's construction industry is forecast to grow 14.26 percent in 2015 and will play an important role in national economic growth, Secretary General of the Indonesian Architects Association (IAI) Satrio Suryo Herlambang stated here, Thursday. "IAI understands that the construction sector has an important role in advancing the economies of ASEAN countries, especially in countries such as Indonesia and Myanmar," he noted. According to Satrio, there is a huge growth potential in the construction market as the demand for infrastructure development is also high. "The construction industry in Myanmar has also shown exponential growth of as much as 14.52 percent from 2009 to 2013 in tandem with the increase in population and economic growth," Satrio pointed out. He gave the example of Myanmar Real Estate and Construction Monitor, one of Myanmar's construction companies, which has cited increasing interest from Indonesian construction and engineering companies to venture into Myanmar. "Indonesian construction companies such as Ciputra, Lippo Group, and Wijaya Karya have inked agreements to undertake construction projects in Myanmar," Satrio remarked. Wijaya Karya is an Indonesian construction company that has started a multi-function construction project in Yangon worth US$270 million for building commercial and residence units that will be completed in 2017. "While Lippo Group, the biggest private hospital management company in Indonesia, which is also a property developer and involved in retail business, is planning to build 15 new hospitals in Myanmar within 20 years," Satrio added.