QATAR’S construction industry is expected to grow at the rate of 10.1 per cent in 2014, as a $150-billion infrastructure programme gets under way in preparation for the 2022 World Cup, according to a report by Business Monitor International (BMI), a leading, independent provider of proprietary data, analysis, ratings, rankings and forecasts.

The report said, however, that the market has been under pressure on a number of fronts, with rising price inflation caused by materials shortages and worker safety highlighted in the media. As such, BMI notes that growth may be constrained over the medium term. Constraints in the market are also likely to decrease profit margins owing to continuously rising construction costs.

Last year, the country is estimated to have awarded contracts worth a total of $56 billion, more than double the value of contracts awarded in 2012. The country has a series of infrastructure projects in the pipeline, including a $1-billion transport corridor project in Doha; a $20 billion investment in roads; $40 billion to be invested in railways; $15.5 billion on a airport; $4 billion on stadiums; $8 billion on a deep-water seaport; tens of thousands of hotel rooms to be built.

The Qatar 2022 Committee is planning to issue tenders shortly for the Al Wakrah stadium, which will host the 2022 football World Cup games, according to the committee’s secretary general, Hassan Al Thawadi. Once the enabling works contract is tendered, the committee is expected to award the main contract for the stadium in the fourth quarter.