Construction’s Vital Role in post-COVID19 Economic Recovery Plans

In June, a webinar, organised under the auspices of the CIB, was the vehicle for a debate concerning The Future of the Construction Sector post Covid19.  Its focus was on the significance of the pandemic for the industry and the challenges encountered in planning for recovery. Since then, governments have now developed and begun to implement policies designed to salvage their crippled economies.

To ensure that the consequences of the COVID19 pandemic do not lead economies into social and economic disaster, stimulating construction activities needs to be at the heart of economic recovery plans. It is recognised that the sector is able to generate a unique multiplier effect with the spending multiplier effect for construction being the highest for any sector of an economy. Investing in construction leads to immediate results that affect the whole value chain of the economy  and such investment in the sector will produce huge environmental , economic and social spill-overs by creating value-added jobs, positively contributing to the recovery of economies at both the local and national levels.  Historically, infrastructure projects have been proven to boost economic recovery and create jobs during economic crises – the New Deal in the USA after the Great Depression being the most famous example. Infrastructure spending has the most ‘bang for the buck’ when it comes to GDP and infrastructure investments pay for themselves because they expand the overall economy and increase the tax base.

Structure of the Webinar

Challenges facing the industry in different countries are not dissimilar and national Governments have taken a broad range of steps to combat the economic disruption caused by COVID19.   

A panel of expert speaker representatives from a range of countries will make presentations on their government’s recovery plans and attendees will have the opportunity to take part in an open discussion with the panel members.

Issues and questions to be discussed:

• The necessity of expenditure in skills training to go hand in hand with infrastructure spending.
• Determining which core infrastructure should be prioritised to achieve speedy and maximum benefits.
• Can building better and building faster go hand-in-hand?
• Are green infrastructure investments are key to achieving the post-pandemic economic recovery? Economic recovery packages present an opportunity to emphasise environmental sustainability
• How to stimulate and provide the necessary conditions for private and public sector activity.

Who should attend?

The webinar is intended to contribute to a wider CIB response to the COVID19 crisis.

CIB members, practitioners, policy makers and academics are all encouraged to attend.

Attendees will be:

• informed of the range of issues facing the construction industry and the economy in different countries and the strategic responses to dealing with them.
• given the opportunity to question the panel members on pertinent issues raised.
• able to share their own views and experiences.

Webinar Outcomes

• Ideas generated will be captured and shared through CIB.
• Practitioners and policy makers will be listened to and their real research needs captured for the CIB community.