QUANTITY surveyors should take note of the changing trends in government
infrastructure development, as the global financial crisis are impacting the
built environment making it more cost-driven than design-driven.
This was one of the important
points made by Sr Ong See Lian (pictured), immediate past RICS (Royal Institute
of Chartered Surveyors) Global President, and keynote speaker at the recent
16th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) Congress.
In his keynote address delivered
during the congress, Sr Ong, whose career spans more than 38 years in both the
public and private sectors of the construction industry, said as a
professional, quantity surveyors "needs to be aware of some of the trends
that is happening" around the world.
He stated that professionals need
to equip themselves not just in terms of competencies and skills and the
knowledge to meet upcoming challenges, but they should also raise the profile
of the profession and maintain high standards by underpinning their services
with "strong, moral ethical values".
As an example of failing trust in
professionals, Sr Ong gave the example of financial institutions, which during
the financial crisis, has lost the trust of their customers, impacting the
building industry due to their lending policies. "As professionals in
quantity surveying, (they) need to learn the lessons and really put the
fundamentals back into the picture," he said.
Going back to 1997, Sr Ong spoke
about the Asian financial crisis, where lending for homes were given out
without proper valuation on properties, with easy credit and low interest
rates. "They were just pushing out loans without proper valuation on the
property and when the foreign exchange currencies was impacted and the value of
currencies suddenly dropped, the banks were the first one to be hit," he
said.
As a result, banks started
tightening their credit and withdrawing a lot of loans, which led to a rise in
non-performing loans. This had a spinoff effect on the industry, which led to
the property sector collapsing.
Some of the industries that Sr
Ong said was affected, included the construction sector,as well as the entire
supply chain, including material supplies and workers.
The recent financial crisis that
affected the United States and is currently affecting the eurozone, has
impacted Asian markets less than its Western counterparts. "I think that
the Asia-Pacific region is actually leading and sustaining the economic growth
on a global basis.
"If we look at GDP growth on
a global basis in the developing world, they are either stagnant or going into
recession," he said.
Sr Ong elaborated that the United
Kingdom experienced two bad quarters which is leading the country into a
"double-dip recession".
"The eurozone is continuing
to face a crisis, and you see the impact of that in Greece, Spain, Portugal,
Italy and even Ireland; and that is going to be there for (the) long haul as we
haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet," he said.
In Asia, with China, India and
some nations in Southeast Asia, countries are currently maintaining and holding
their growth path and leading the rest of the world with the support of other
emerging markets like "BRIC nations" Russia and Latin America. Sr Ong
said that the support given by the BRIC nations are supporting Asian countries'
growth and providing confidence to the the global economy, but it means that
countries have to be prudent in their expenses.
Sr Ong said that these current
economic situations that is being experienced on a global scale means that the
government are thinking about their capital infrastructure development and
investment and are now beginning to realise that they need to be cautious on
how to spend their capital budget expenditure.
"In fact, a lot of
government are looking at how they can stretch their budget so now they are
going for a 'less is more' attitude," he said, adding that governments are
now more constrained by their budgets and they are being much more cautious
with the limited budget that they have.
In this aspect, Sr Ong stated
that with projects being more cost driven, nations need the expertise to be
able to provide accurate forecasts, or budgets, on any capital projects and
should be able to manage, monitor and control the projects as they progresses
through the design and construction phase.
He said that on top of the change
in financial trends, there is also environmental trends that are impacting the
build industry. "Now, with issues like green issues, there is a need for
sustainable development.
DEBBIE TOO
The Brunei Times
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