International markets: 10 fastest growing markets in the world

1 China

The numbers: China spent £313bn on construction in 2007 and plans to increase this by 8.5% between 2007 and 2010. This makes it the world’s biggest spender and fastest grower.

Who's there?

UK firms include Davis Langdon, Atkins, Arup, Buro Happold, Barton Willmore and Gleeds. The main homegrown players are all government-owned contractors such as the China State Construction and Engineering Corporation.

What are they building?

The Chinese construction market has been growing at nearly 18% a year for the past decade, according to figures from Davis Langdon & Seah (DLS) in Hong Kong. However, the picture in the middle kingdom is dominated by two things at the moment: the Beijing Olympics and the rebuilding of Beichuan after the earthquake on 12 May.

To outside eyes, construction in China is all about the astonishing buildings going up in Beijing or the futuristic skyline of Shanghai. However, the latest figures from DLS for 2006 show that these two cities rank only sixth (5.2%) and fifth (5.5%) respectively in the league table of construction output. Far ahead are two boom towns on the eastern coast, Zhejiang (13.6%) and Jiangsu (13.1%). Shandong and Guangdong make up the rest of the top six.

According to DLS and the China Statistical Yearbook, the total value of the construction market in 2006 was RMB4,155bn (£313bn), with building construction accounting for RMB2,499bn (£180bn) of that.

What’s it like to do business there?

Given China’s legendary talent for bureaucracy, it is perhaps unsurprising that not many British firms have ventured beyond Hong Kong. Of those that have, most tend to be engineers, consultants or architects.

Why go?

Exciting projects. Atkins and Arup are two of the most successful imports to China, with Atkins preparing to design the hundreds of airports that will be needed to service China’s ever-expanding urban centres. Arup has grabbed more headlines with its design work on the 234m high CCTV Tower and the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium, the Water Cube aquatics centre and the “eco city” at Dongtan.

Why stay away?

The minefield of regulations. For instance, contractors are split into four grades (special, one, two and three) with only those with the “special” licence able to bid for the most prestigious projects. Tenders are awarded not by the client but by an evaluation committee that consists of at least five members, only some of whom are required to have specialist knowledge of the industry.

These five are in turn selected from a list of names approved by a local construction committee, and if you manage to win a bid, you then face having your every move pored over (and potentially vetoed) by a “local design institute”.

The advice from Jeff Liu, general manager of Atkins’ Beijing office, is: “If you want to be successful, you have to base yourself there for the long-term.”

Any tips?

Don’t say to anyone in Beijing that the Olympic venues are huge white elephants. If anyone has a plan for Herzog & De Meuron’s stadium and Arup’s Water Cube swimming pool once the Games are over, then they have been keeping it quiet …

2 India

The numbers: India spent £46.8bn on construction in 2007 and this is set to increase by 8% a year between 2007 and 2010.

Who’s there?

Plenty of big UK names, including Arup, Davis Langdon, Gleeds, Laing O’Rourke, Lend Lease and Mott MacDonald.

What’s being built?

Stuart Senior, managing partner at Gleeds, says: “It’s all happening in India. Infrastructure will be massive, roads and railways need renewing, metros are being constructed in all the big cities, and townships are being built to replace slums – in Mumbai alone, 20 million people live in slums, so this is massive. Shopping malls, hospitals, offices and hotels are also emerging at a tremendous rate.”

What’s it like doing business there?

“Getting paid can be an issue. Make sure you get your money by aligning yourself – either formally or informally – with organisations already working successfully out there.

Why go there?

“The sheer pace of growth, the fact English is spoken widely and the respect between Indians and Brits based on their historical ties. Also, India will be affected by the credit crunch far less than the UK or US.”

Why stay away?

“If you want to work here you have to be comfortable with how India is. People sleep on the sidewalks and there is raw, running sewage in the streets: it’s not for everyone. There is also a lot of paper work.”

Any tips?

“Be careful cracking jokes in Indian business meetings. Brits tend to say throwaway lines in jest but it can be taken literally.”

3 Russia

The numbers: Having spent £45bn on construction in 2007, Russia is planning to increase spending by 7.8% in the three years to 2010.

Who’s there?

Architects such as Foster + Partners, Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, RMJM, HOK and Swanke Hayden Connell, and large consultants including Davis Langdon, EC Harris, Arup, Mott MacDonald, WSP and Waterman Group.

What are they building?

Davis Langdon partner Kevin Sims says: “The market is booming. For example, they are desperate for hotels, particularly in Moscow, where a room in a merely reasonable hotel costs up to £400. They are also building iconic schemes like the Gazprom tower by RMJM.”

What’s it like doing business there?

“There’s a fair amount of mistrust in this market. People are wary about getting paid, so there is a trend towards fee bidding among consultants and single-stage tenders for contractors. Often you ask for an advance fee – of 5-40% for consultants and 10-20% for contractors.”

Why go there?

“If you want to service global clients globally, you need to be in Russia. The economy is expanding rapidly and, unlike the UK’s, it is not based on debt, so there’s tonnes of work in the pipeline. There’s a major shortage of contractors here.”

Why stay away?

“The bureaucracy. In Russia, you have to speak to about 52 organisations to get planning approval.”

Any tips?

Matti Mannonen, managing director of WSP in Finland, says: “Don’t book more than one meeting a day in Moscow. The city is totally ruined by traffic.”

4 Vietnam

The numbers: The country spent £3.6bn on construction in 2007 – not huge but spending on building is set to grow by 7.5% between 2007 and 2010.

Who’s there?

Aedas, Davis Langdon, WT Partnership.

What are they building?

High-end residential, hotel and leisure facilities, especially along the coastline.

What’s it like doing business there?

Chris Perry, regional director for Asia, at Mace, says: “By January 2009 it will be possible for foreigners to invest in property, which will give things a big boost. Right now, to break in you need to set up an office with a mixture of expats and local staff. The market is undeveloped and the business community is small, so you’ll get leads pretty quickly. ”

Why go there?

“Everyone wants wacky, funky designs. And it’s a great chance to work on large-scale projects where they are aiming to achieve international standards.”

Why stay away?

“Red tape. You need to know the right person to get planning approval. Even if you win planning, you might find that building approval isn’t granted. People get as far as doing the piling and then find the project gets bogged down while they wait for approval. Here at Mace we’re still weighing up whether to go in.”

Any tips?

“Carry out projects in stages to cover yourself if work gets held up by red tape.”

5 Poland

The numbers: Poland is due to up construction spending by 7% over 2007/10 from £20bn in 2007.

Who’s there?

Gleeds, Davis Langdon, EC Harris, Arup and Atkins, to name but a few.

What are they building?

Tadeusz Jachowicz, Gleeds’ director for Poland and the Ukraine, says: “Most of the work is in the residential sector at the moment, particularly in Warsaw. But in other cities in the south, like Katowice, there is a demand for offices which is slowly moving north. In retail, there are a big number of hypermarkets going up in smaller cities by companies like Tesco.”

What’s it like doing business there?

“Poland is booming. It has been going through changes for a long time now, and some areas of the market are quite stable and organised in terms of who is working there. Big European companies such as Hochtief and Skanska took a big share of the market, and in many cases took over good Polish companies.”

Why you should go

“There are big projects to work on – large apartment schemes, high residential towers and top class retail and office schemes. The Euro 2012 football championship, which will be held in Poland, has also brought a lot of optimism.

“There is a shortage of flats and construction has traditionally been cheap, enabling good margins. This is, however, changing with the shortage of contractors, materials and skilled labour, in part owing to Poland joining the EU and many workers going to the UK and Ireland. On the other hand, people are now returning.

“There is a lot of demand for companies with the right knowledge and skill.”

Why stay away?

“There’s still a legacy of the Communist time. Because of this you need a degree of local knowledge to be able to guide clients through the administrative procedures – the level of service expected is high. This means you need a base here. There is also still very strong price competition.”

Any tips?

“Reporting up to senior management level throughout a project is done in Polish, but then the board will always expect companies to report to it in English. It means you have to have bilingual people.”

6 United Arab Emirates

The numbers: The seven emirates of the UAE are together expected to increase construction spending by 6.75% over 2007/10 – from £7.8bn in 2007.

Who’s there?

“Anyone who’s anyone,” says Alan Turner, a managing director at Gleeds.

What are they building?

“If it can be built, they are building it. Dubai – the tallest, the longest and so on. Abu Dhabi, like Dubai, is building leisure, residential and commercial schemes on a grand scale. Mega projects include Al Reem Island, a 68 million ft2 scheme which will house 280,000 residents.

What’s it like doing business there?

“Traditional procurement with a fully designed scheme using bills of quantities is still the main route used. But contractors and materials are in such high demand that more collaborative procurement styles are becoming common. You don’t have to have a local sponsor but it helps. Most UK companies team up with a local person or their UAE businesses are owned by sponsors.

Why go there?

“There’s plenty of work, it’s relatively straightforward doing business and it can be lucrative if you approach it the right way.”

Why stay away?

“People worry that it will be too different and a bit scary but often you find no reason to be afraid.”

Any tips?

“The place to be is Abu Dhabi. It has more natural wealth than Dubai and growth is overtaking it. Qatar will be in a similar position in five years.”

7 Egypt

The numbers: Egypt spent £3.3bn on construction in 2007. This will grow by 5.75% a year up to 2010.

Who's there?

Big players are starting to work here, including Foster + Partners, Carillion through its joint venture with Al Futtaim, Davis Langdon, EC Harris and Gleeds.

What are they building?

Seriously big schemes comprising residential and tourist elements. These include the £2bn Cairo Festival City project and a £1bn residential development on the Red Sea coast. Foster is designing the latter for Jordanian developer Shaheen Business Development Group.

What's it like to do business there?

“Quite difficult”, says David Sparrow, head of client solutions at EC Harris. “There is a total lack of transparency and regulation in the market. The supply side is very immature, so if you’re doing a project of any significance you’re going to need to get services like mechanical, cladding and groundworks abroad.”

UK Trade & Investment, the government’s business development organisation, adds that “good personal contacts are essential in Egypt and regular visits are necessary to develop successful business. The usual vehicle for foreign investment is the joint stock model or the limited liability company.”

Why go?

Sparrow says: “It’s an exciting place to be. Lots of commercial clients from the Middle East and Far East are setting up in Egypt, plus some UK banks. Barclays, for example is setting up branch networks there.”

Why stay away?

“Skills are the main problem. They are patchy at best on design, cost control, project management and construction management.” UK IT adds: “Time and punctuality can be rather vague concepts in Egypt, not least because of the severe traffic congestion.”

Any tips?

“Get a local partner because foreign companies require a local agent to bid for government tenders.”

8 South Korea

The numbers: Korea spent £61bn on construction in 2007 and this is set to rise by 5.5% over 2007/10.

Who’s there?

No UK firms have a major presence yet.

What are they building?

The hot sectors are retail and commercial. There are lots of large-scale projects happening, such as that at Incheon, a port city in South Korea where a new city is being created on reclaimed mud flats.

What’s it like doing business there?

Tim Alper, editor of North Korea IT Times, says: “Lee Myung-bak, the new president, is very business-friendly. “

Why go there?

Mace’s Perry says: “Working there could be a great way to escape the credit crunch.”

Why stay away?

Alper says: “Red tape and protectionist economics – but things are changing.”

Any tips?

“Doing a joint venture is your best bet.”

9 Mexico

The numbers: Mexico’s construction spend is to rise by 5.25% a year to 2010, from £43bn in 2007.

Who’s there?

Not much of a UK presence here. Hill International, the US project manager with a growing UK arm, recently got into Mexico by buying Spain’s Gerens.

What are they building?

José Luis Dominguez, manager of Gerens Hill International, says: “This market is about tourism and housing for poor people. In five years the government wants to build 4 million cheaper homes.”

What’s it like doing business here?

“It’s relatively risky: Mexican clients don’t like fixed-price contracts, so a lot of work is done with design and build or guaranteed maximum price deals. The legal system works well, though.”

Why go there?

“There are huge opportunities, especially for British companies with knowledge of PPP. The government will spend £250bn on hospitals, prisons, schools and infrastructure.”

Why stay away?

A spokesperson for UK Trade & Investment says: “UK business people might find it difficult to get shareholders to understand why they’re going to Mexico.”

Any tips?

Gerens says: “Mexicans tend to agree to everything but then put off anything they don’t want to do.”

10 Venezuela

The numbers: Spending on buildings is set to grow 5% to 2010. Venezuela spent £11.5bn in 2007.

Who’s there?

No UK construction firms operate here.

What are they building?

Gerens’ Dominguez says: “Venezuela needs to revamp its oil refineries and plants. It also needs roads, airports and hospitals.”

What’s it like to do business there?

“I don’t think there’s much encouragement for foreign firms.”

Why go there?

“Venezuela doesn’t have enough internal capacity to carry out all the work it needs to do.”

Why stay away?

“You need to make sure you aren’t bound to reinvest profit inside Venezuela.”

Any tips?

“Go to Mexico instead!”