Construction industry contributes Rs. 226b to GDP

The construction industry contributes around Rs 226 billion to the GDP and provides direct employment to around 27,000 persons and indirect employment to one million persons in the country, Vice Chairman of the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka Dr. Rohan Karunaratne told a media conference last week to mark the seventh exhibition of the Sri Lanka Construction Industry to be held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial International Centre from August 10-12 this year.

He said the government had always considered the National Construction Association of Sri Lanka to be the apex body that had contributed to the development of the country.

The government in turn had provided several concessions to the industry in the budget and recommended to the French government to provide concessionary loans to the construction industry.

The French government had allocated a grant of Rs 150 million to develop human resources of the construction industry. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had taken a personal interest in the development of the industry and had afforded us an opportunity to discuss the shortcomings of the industry.

The Construct 2007 exhibition will bring together several builders, architects, developers, interior designers, engineers and contractors.

It will showcase state of the art materials including machinery both local and foreign. All building materials will be displayed at this mega event.