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Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE MALAYSIAN INTERNATIONAL
EXHIBITION AND SHOWROOM (MINES),
SERI KEMBANGAN,
SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN
Tarikh/Date : 01/09/99
Tajuk/Title : THE INTERNATIONAL
CONSTRUCTION WEEK
Firstly, let me welcome all of you to this
auspicious event held in this auspicious setting. To
our foreign participants -- welcome to Malaysia.
2. This year's International Construction Week is
organised following the successful National
Construction Week held in 1998 but with a difference.
This time around the call is directed towards
international participation and audience; a testimony
to the globalised nature of the construction industry
today. What was at one time assumed to be within the
confines of each nation's sovereignty has now extended
beyond physical borders into the realm of the global
public domain. And much of it can be attributed to the
power of IT, bringing with it not only new
opportunities but also new challenges.
3. The construction industry was one of the sectors
of the economy that was hardest hit during the economic
downturn. But then again this is not something new or
peculiar to Malaysia. Time and again, as nations go
through their economic cycles, the construction
industry will be one of the first to feel the brunt of
the economic slowdown and among the last to benefit
from the effects of an economic recovery. After all,
the construction industry is acknowledged to be one of
the barometers of the economic health of any nation.
4. The Malaysian economy is undoubtedly recovering,
with one percent positive growth in gross domestic
product within our reach this year. The signs are
there for all those who care to see. But the
construction industry must not be triumphant just yet.
Improvement in this important sector will, at most, be
in the form of reduction in negative growth. As the
economy recovers, the construction industry will have
to wait for its turn to move out of the doldrums. This
is to be expected as the construction industry depends
to a large extent on derived demand and is dependant
upon the economic inertia created by the other
downstream sectors such as banking and manufacturing
which it, in turn, supports the resource-based
industries upstream.
5. As a result of the economic downturn, out of
prudence, we unfortunately had had to delay a number of
large projects which could have brought much benefit to
the nation. This included the linear city, the Bakun
hydroelectric project, the Monorail and a number of
airports and highways, some of which are now beginning
to take off again. Projects which were on track and
implemented fast, such as the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport, and the Light Rail Transit
escaped the economic hiccup, and, were successfully
implemented. Projects such as these are now providing
positive returns since they can now be put to
productive use. Projects that were not started did not
strain the Government coffers as no fund were needed to
finance them. The only projects that created strains
on the economy were those that were started but could
not be completed to reap the benefits. It is because of
this that the Government had to find ways and means to
complete as much development projects as possible so
that such projects would be able to generate positive
income streams and not remain as projects that can
neither be used nor abandoned and perpetually
generating financial drains on the economy. The
Government is aware that the earlier these projects are
completed the lesser the financial burden and the
faster the return. In this context the construction
industry players have a major role to play. By being
able to complete a project in the shortest time
possible and at the lowest cost, the construction
industry can go a long way towards providing the
impetus necessary to put the economic infrastructure
back in place and thus contribute directly towards
expediting economic recovery.
6. Just like the nation's economy, the construction
industry growth is cyclical and has a return period of
roughly ten years. The last phase was sustained
through a period of almost twelve years. Problems in
construction exist during times of economic prosperity
as well as times of economic difficulty. The former
brings with it the problems associated with quality
whereas the latter lands the nations with the problems
of excess capacity. During times of economic
difficulty the opportunity lies outside the borders of
the country. In this context the construction industry
must learn from the experience of the larger
multinational construction corporations and seek means
to establish smart alliances with them. However, for a
meaningful and sustainable alliance to exist the
partners must have comparative advantages that can
benefit from the synergy arising out of the alliance.
And some of the comparative advantages have been
acquired through experience in handling some of the
large and sophisticated projects promoted by the
Government. The time is ripe for Malaysians to put
into practice all of their experience and knowledge
gained in undertaking these Government projects to
secure foreign ventures.
7. When the Government decided to proceed with the so-
called mega projects there were more than one dimension
of tangible and intangible benefits to be realised.
There is no denial that large projects, by virtue of
their size alone will bring attention to this nation,
the first step towards telling the world of our
existence. However, of greater importance and more
tacitly, is the investment in knowledge that such
projects bring forth. The Great Wall of China for
instance, gravitated attention to China, but what
really made it great was the engineering feat of the
project. The Empire State Building, the San Francisco
Bridge, the Chunnel (channel-tunnel) linking France to
Britain are all great projects, not so much by virtue
of their magnitude or mega-sizes, but more so by the
engineering challenge they involved and the knowledge
capital that was invested that forms the critical
factor of success. It is on this very score that
multinational construction conglomerates are winning
tenders for projects the world over.
8. When Japan started their own industrial revolution
it spent much time and money on reverse engineering.
What others chided as attempts at copying turned out to
be a means of knowledge acquisition. By investing in
knowledge and developing it, Japan is what it is now.
In construction, reverse engineering is quite
impossible. An alternative approach to knowledge
development is to provoke the builders' minds with
difficult and intellectually challenging assignments.
Through association with others more experience in this
field, knowledge can be acquired. The numerous large
projects have managed to provide the setting for this
intellectual build-up.
9. Highways are infrastructures essential for
economic efficiency. Malaysia, for example, has vast
experience in the construction of highway projects.
These include the North-South Highway, the East-West
Highway linking Kelantan to Kedah, and the Kuala Lumpur-
Karak Highway. Foreign companies partnered Malaysian
companies, and in so doing technology was transferred
and Malaysians learned from those more knowledgeable
and experienced in this field. Nowadays we see
Malaysian companies undertaking highway projects in
India, Bosnia, and the Philippines. This was made
possible because we dared to invest in knowledge
earlier.
10. The Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is
another example of Malaysia's investment in knowledge.
The KLIA not only posed a technology challenge to the
construction community but a more ominous challenge
came from the field of project management -- the
ability to manage such a huge project subjected to a
multitude of constraints. This was the real
achievement of the project, the provision of world
class project management service that successfully
achieved its target within the constraints of time,
money, labour and quality.
11. On the other hand the knowledge value of another
project, the Putrajaya, lies in the ability to
harmonise modern built environment with mother nature.
There cannot be many who can proudly claim to have been
given the opportunity and successfully build a world
class city in the centre of an artificial wetland.
This jewel of knowledge and experience will be a
crucial asset in the environmentally sensitive global
development of the next millenium.
12. The technological challenge does not end at the
construction project only. Whilst attempting to
harmonise the static of the built environment with the
dynamic of the natural environment, modern
infrastructure facilities need to be further embedded
and supported by highly technological operating systems
to enhance its value. The KLIA, for example, is backed
by the Total Airport Management Systems for efficient
airport management. Modern tolled highways can do with
less human intervention and delegate menial works to
expert systems, a move which is likely to reduce or
even eliminate the cost of providing suitable and
conducive environment to human operators with its
ensuing human problems. The construction of Kuala
Lumpur City Centre, the tallest building in the world
and another classic example of an engineering feat,
needs the support of an efficient and safe vertical
transportation system. A building of that height would
surely pose a challenge to the technologies of fire
fighting, security and maintenance. These are problems
that come uniquely with such a unique structure. But
problems are opportunities to the innovative. And the
ability to surmount such problems technologically opens
a rare opportunity towards technological
sophistication. It is this technological
sophistication that will provide the competitive
advantage in the global market.
13. The construction industry is inevitably a
knowledge-driven industry. From inception through
retirement or reuse, information forms a core part of
its tools for the purpose of decision making; and
knowledge is its underlying energy for the attainment
of competitiveness and the enhancement of value. If,
at one time, construction was the domain of architects,
engineers and town planners, nowadays a host of other
new knowledge areas and specialisation have developed.
Intelligent buildings and intelligent cities need a
whole lot of new expertise to be integrated into
construction. That this should be so is not at all
surprising as knowledge about human needs and human-
environmental interaction develops. After all, in the
final analysis, there can be no other rationale for a
built environment if not to serve the human race.
14. One area that has substantial impact on the life
cycle cost of development projects is their operations
and maintenance. Malaysians need to upgrade knowledge
in this area as the culture of maintenance is quite new
to us. With the coming of bigger and more
sophisticated projects, and more in the pipeline,
knowledge and the ensuing technology in these areas
must be developed. Indigenous technology of this nature
has far higher market potential in the global market.
15. On the one hand there are those who accused the
Government of being extravagant with development
projects. These are people who measure value by merely
focusing on tangible benefits. But knowledge has an
intangible value, yet is as real and this value
surpasses most tangible economic value.
16. The Malaysian Government has done its part by
setting the stage for the development of knowledge in
the construction industry. It is now up to the
construction industry players to seize the
opportunities available, to prise open overseas markets
and to develop global competitive advantage. The
development of IT in construction, one of the
highlights of this International Construction Week,
will make it especially relevant.
17. To the industry players, your success will be
testimony to the prudence and validity of the earlier
Government policy to embark on sophisticated projects
in order to develop the knowledge capital of the
construction industry in anticipation of a larger and
more challenging global role.
18. The International Construction Week, organised by
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in
conjunction with Reeds Exhibition Sdn. Bhd, is the most
appropriate forum to put together some of the best
minds in the world to bring about a paradigm shift in
the construction industry. As the world migrate
towards being a knowledge society in the Age of
Information, the construction industry the world over
must reengineer itself to make it relevant to the
current business practices, technological developments
and clients' needs.
19. Special mention must be given to CIDB's effort at
increasing the skills and knowledge of the youth who
were unable to pursue their academic ambitions in the
institutions of higher learning. By providing skills
and knowledge courses through the Malaysian
Construction Academy, CIDB has managed to offer
alternative career paths for our youths including those
from the `orang asli' community. Of particular
importance are the skills standards developed by CIDB
that form the basis for accreditation of these skills.
These skills standards are at par with the best in the
world and shall be made the accreditation criteria for
those local, and foreign workers, who intend to be part
of the construction work force. Skill standards that
harmonise with those from other more developed nations
will not only enhance the skill and knowledge content
of the Malaysian workers but will, more importantly,
enhance the mobility of the Malaysian workers, and
thus, provide them with an ever larger market. This is
surely a commendable effort as such programmes will go
a long way in providing the skills and knowledge base
of the community. It is only through elevating the
quality of the Malaysian construction industry through
investment in knowledge and skills of the human capital
that the industry can achieve excellence and be a
global power.
20. Once again I would like to congratulate CIDB for
their foresight, initiative and untiring efforts to
rejuvenate the construction industry and to develop the
construction industry to be at par with the best in the
world. The future of construction promises to be both
challenging and exciting. Let us turn the experience
of the past to be the strength of tomorrow. That first
step to the future begins now. On this note, I have
the pleasure to declare the International Construction
Week open.
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