WORLDNEWS
8
GLOBAL
Anti-corruptionactions
The AsianDevelopment Bank took action against
384 companies and individuals for fraud and
corruption last year
T
he AsianDevelopment Bank’s (ADB’s) Office of Anti-corruption and
Integrity (OAI) received a record of 250 complaints of corruption in
2013, up from 240 in 2012. It saidmost of these came from external
stakeholders.
OAIheadClareWee said, “Fraud related toworkexperience,qualifications,
and technical and financial capacities of consulting firms or consultants
continues to be the most common type of integrity violation reported to
OAI.”
The OAI investigated 239 cases in 2013 and closed 76. There were
sanctions against 30 individuals and 30 companies, and as part of an
agreement between ADB and four other multilateral development banks,
some 324 entities were cross-debarred fromADBwork due towrongdoing
onprojects funded by other banks.
The number of sanctions levied by the ADBwas down on 2012, when it
took action against 42 companies and38 individuals.However, the number
of cross-debarments was up sharply, compared to the action taken against
just 108 individuals and companies in 2012.
CHINA
A new, CNY 15 billion (US$ 2.4 billion) entertainment district in
Shanghai has been designed by architects 3XN. Developed byDreamWorks
Animation in partnershipwithCMCCapital Partners and LanKwai Fong
Group, theDreamCenterwill be located on the city’sWest Bund and feature
an IMAX theatre, aswell as retail and creative offices. Constructionwill begin
later this year and the building is scheduled to open in 2017.
international
construction
april 2014
Italian construction equipment
exhibition Samoter go ahead in
May, despite rumours that it might
be cancelled in the face of weak
Italianmarket conditions.
The show inVerona is on a three-
year cycle, and this yearwill be held
in conjunction with the Asphatica
infrastructure and road safety
exhibition.
US
Equipment
exports fall
Exports of US-made construction
equipment fell -25% in 2013
to US$ 20 billion, according to
the Association of Equipment
Manufacturers
(AEM).
The
decline followed three years of
growth, +13% in 2012, +43% in
2011 and+28% in 2010.
The steepest fall was in exports
to Australia/Oceania, where sales
of US-made equipment fell -66%
to US$ 2.1 billion. The biggest
export market for US equipment
makers,Canada,was down -16% to
US$ 6.8 billion.
Elsewhere, exports to South
America were down -22% to
US$ 3.6 billion, Central America
was down -2% to US$ 2.2 billion,
Europewas down -19% toUS$2.6
billion and Asia was down -33% to
US$ 2.1 billion. Exports toMexico
totalledUS$ 1.8 billion, down -1%
year-on-year.
US
New
transportation
bill proposed
US President Barak Obama has
proposed a US$ 302 billion, four-
year bill to finance construction
of
surface
transportation
infrastructure. Some US$ 150
billion of the funding will come
from a proposed one-off transition
tax on multinational companies’
off-shore earnings.
Among the policy objectives
within the proposal is a US$ 63
billion to the US Highway Trust
Fund, which a statement from
the White House said would
ensure its solvency for four years.
The Highway Trust Fund is a
ring-fenced budget for highway
construction and renovation which
is raised through a tax on road fuel.
Inaddition, the is said toprioritise
“Fix-It-First” investments , which
is to say the most urgently needed
repairs required to improve safety
on roads, bridges subways and bus
services, “With particular attention
to improving roads and bridges in
rural and tribal areas.”
A total of US$ 206 billion is
ear-marked in the bill for highway
investment,which theWhiteHouse
says would increase investment by
+22% per year over four-years.
Of the remaining money,
US$ 72 billion would be invested
in transit systems, US$ 19 billion
in rail systems and US$ 9 billion
to fund innovation in the sector
through programmes such as the
Transport Investment Generating
Economic Recovery competitive
grant programme, which allows
local lawmakers to bid for Federal
funds on a project-by-project basis.
Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of
the Associated Contractors of
America trade association said,
“It is encouraging to see President
Obama pushing for a long-term
bill to fund desperately needed
highway and transit investments.
We look forward to reviewing
the details about this measure,
which recognises the federal
transportation funding shortfalls
that threat to curtail investments in
highway and transit projects as early
as this summer.”
EUROPE
Construction
output
jumped in
January
Construction output in Europe
showed a strong year-on-year
increase in January, with a +7.3%
rise across all 28EUMemberStates.
The data from Eurostat marks a
break in the long-standing trend
of falling year-on-year construction
output that dominated 2013. Last
year saw construction output the
EUdrop -2.2%.
However, this year began on a
more positive note. The highest
year-on-year increases for January
were registered in Slovenia
(+42.8%),
Spain
(+17.6%),
Hungary (+15.9%) and Germany
(+14.1%), and the largest decreases
in Portugal (-14%), Romania
(-9.2%) and Italy (-7.9%).
In terms of sectors, building
constructionoutput jumped+8.1%
in January this year compared
with January 2013, while civil
engineering output was up +3.8%.
ITALY
Samoter togo ahead
After a meeting with key trade
associations, organiser Veronafiere
said that no one was hiding the
difficulties facing the industry –not
only in Italy– “but noone iswilling
to throw in the towel”.
Samoter is scheduled to take place
from 8 to 11 May. The last time
it was held, in 2011, it attracted
98,000 visitors and 900 exhibitors.
