By Marcelle P. Villegas
The longest-running construction expo in Southeast Asia and the biggest trade show in the Philippines took place last November 8-11 in two venues, namely; SMX Convention Center and the World Trade Center Metro Manila. Now on its 29th year, this trade show for the construction industry welcomed more than 70,000 visitors. This massive expo is organised by the Philippine Construction Association Inc. (PCA). Members of PCA are responsible for more than 80% of the country’s total annual construction projects.
Mr Morris Agoncillo, President of PCA states, “These are very exciting times for the industry with the government’s aggressive pursuit of infrastructure development through the Build, Build, Build program as well as the private sector’s drive to produce globally competitive projects, there are plenty of opportunities for both local and international suppliers to grow their business here. Our goal in PCA is to provide a venue where they can easily explore these opportunities and for close to three decades now. PHILCONSTRUCT has been that platform.” Secretary Ramon Lopez of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) led the opening rites for the event.
During the 29th PHILCONSTRUCT, the entire parking lot of World Trade Center Metro Manila was converted into an indoor exhibition hall to give space to many new international exhibitors. This is approximately an additional 3,000 square meters of indoor space, according to Mr Gerardo Pancho who is the 1st Vice President of the Philippine Constructors Association and the Overall Chairman of last year’s PHILCONSTRUCT.
Since 2013 when PHILCONSTRUCT started its expansion, the event has generated a steady growth and demand for exhibit space from local and international suppliers. In the latest expanded exhibit, PHILCONSTRUCT featured building materials, construction equipment, fixtures, finishing solutions, and other related construction services from 23 countries.
Participating countries include China, the European Union, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the United States. Over 1,500 companies participated in the event. PHILCONSTRUCT 2018 was presented by Pacific Paint (BOYSEN) Philippines, Inc. with major sponsors Civic Merchandising, Inc., CW Home Depot, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc., and QSJ Motor Philippine. The show sponsors are Caltex/ Chevron Philippines, Co Ban Kiat Hardware, and Isuzu Philippines.
Mr Pancho mentioned that the event is a great venue for stakeholders from both the government and the private sector. From here, we can determine how these products and technologies from other countries can help improve and strengthen the country’s various structures and infrastructures. He said, “We expect this synergy between these stakeholders to help bring the practice of construction here in the Philippines to the next level.”
The event also presented various technical lectures for engineers and engineering students. For instance, at SMX Convention Center, Mr Jun Perez conducted a lecture on Basic HVAC Seminar during the HVAC/R Philippine Technoforum 2018. In his lecture, he shared much of his vast experience in smart techniques in building designs and air con installation from his previous projects in Guam for the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy. The seminar was sponsored by Concepcion Midea Inc. Two meeting rooms for the seminar were filled with attendees who are engineering students and engineers.
Within the exhibit ground in SMX Convention Center, many companies offered free technical lectures by experts like Engr. Jhon Carlo Rojo, Technical Support Engineer of Daikin Airconditioning Philippines Inc. His lecture emphasized the importance of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). He mentioned that we breathe 28,800 times a day and 90% of the time, most of us are indoors. With that, IAQ has an impact on our health, work performance and quality of living. For almost 90 years, Daikin of Japan has been the leader in air con and air filter technology.
