Publication: Foreign Stakeholders' Perception Survey
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Published
2007-11
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Date
2014-08-21
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Abstract
The literature review and especially the country specific assessments and reports indicated that the capacity of a local construction industry may be limited due to a wide variety of reasons. Therefore, a survey of foreign stakeholders was planned as part of the Pakistan Infrastructure Implementation Capacity Assessment (PIICA). Its objective was to obtain insight on the perceptions of international contractors and consultants and their level of interest in pursuing business in Pakistan. The following were the key issues explored: (i) For countries with the worst business environment, what are the various issues that make the business environments in these countries challenging? Are such challenges acceptable? (ii) For countries with the best business environment, how are the same issues rated? (iii) What would attract foreign stakeholders to pursue business in Pakistan and what deters them? (iv) What are the general perceptions about the business environment in Pakistan? (v) If Pakistan is not on top of the list for exploring business, is it because there is plenty of work available elsewhere?
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“Mir, Aized H.; Durrani, Amer Z.; Gilani, Ijaz; Malik, Ermeena. 2007. Foreign Stakeholders' Perception Survey. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19609 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Focus Group Discussion(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-11)The Pakistan Infrastructure Implementation Capacity Assessment (PIICA) study was initiated in response to a specific request from the Government of Pakistan (GoP) to study the capacity of the local construction industry (client institutions, contractors and consultants) to deliver the planned infrastructure projects under the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF). The objectives of the focus group discussions were to: (i) ensure active participation and ownership of stakeholders in the study; (ii) obtain concurrence on the framework for the study and the technical analyses to be carried out; and (iii) obtain feedback and comments on findings and develop consensus on the way forward. Focus group discussions helped identify the broad thematic areas and the issues which should be researched. The discussion provided a framework for preparation of a detailed questionnaire to be used for ascertaining stakeholders' perceptions about the industry and to solicit their comments and suggestions. The focus group also identified the need for carrying out separate technical analyses and emphasized that case studies of various projects should be prepared. The focus group discussions validated the results obtained from the perceptions surveys and the technical analyses and the stakeholders concurred with the complex issues and challenges faced by the construction industry. While valuable suggestions were provided in the focus group discussions which can remove a number of constraints faced by the industry, there were no solutions offered which could be implemented to provide increased capacity over the short-term as the systematic weaknesses in the business environment, the lack of adequately skilled human resource (HR), lack of client agencies capacity, lack of financing, and credit available to the industry and other constraints cannot be addressed within an immediate or short-term time frame clearly, besides taking measures to develop the local construction industry, innovative methods of procurement, and delivery mechanisms will need to be thought of in order to meet all of the MTDF infrastructure development goals.Publication Local Case Studies(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-11)The local case studies for projects in different sectors were prepared to document the bottlenecks which occurred during the various processes involved in the life cycle of infrastructure projects. Identifying such processes allows a better understanding of the capacity constraints in planning, designing, programming, procurement, contract administration, financing and budgeting, execution, and other stages in a project cycle. The case studies clearly demonstrate the presence of deep rooted systematic problems related to: (1) inadequate client capacity to plan, procure, program, administer, and manage projects; (2) imbalanced conditions of contracts; (3) flawed procurement procedures (pre-qualification, bid evaluation, negotiations, and re-negotiations with the lowest bidder) causing significant delays; (4) mismatched project funding needs and actual availability of funds; (5) commencement of projects without ensuring that required funds are in place; (6) delay in making running payments; (7) insufficient time given for detailed design and variations in contract due to inadequacies in design; (8) limited capacity of local contractors; and (9) poor international bid response in mega projects related to credibility issues.Publication Local Stakeholders' Perception Survey(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-11)This paper identifies issues in implementing large infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Input from key stakeholders of the construction industry (consultants, clients, and contractors) was required to gauge their perceptions about the existing problems in the industry and their suggested solutions. This was necessary to compare what the stakeholders considered were hurdles in their growth with what this study identified as the main problems within the construction industry. Therefore, perceptions of stakeholders were deemed essential to identify priority issues within the construction industry so that solutions to improve the implementation capacity of the industry are directed towards these areas. While the overall perception among contractors and consultants was one of disillusionment with clients and government procedures, they were modestly upbeat about future business prospects. They recognized that economic activity was rising in Pakistan and that there were prospects for them both there and abroad. They referred to the period since the 1990s as a period of lost opportunity, during which they faced a serious slump, but were now modestly hopeful and keen on moving ahead. While they put some of the blame on the clients, they were generally pragmatic and mindful of their own shortcomings. The survey findings and deliberations in the focus group discussions showed a similarity of views on key issues pertaining to the four thematic areas, namely, business environment, human resources, supply of materials, and equipment. Conclusions are drawn that contract provisions for timely payments to sub-contractors need to be strengthened.Publication Business Environment and Cost of Doing Business(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-11)The objective of the Pakistan Infrastructure Implementation Capacity Assessment (PIICA) study was to identify and ascertain the extent to which certain complex and dysfunctional business processes in fact contribute to the overall delays caused in completion of infrastructure projects. The primary focus was to understand and document the business processes relating to the life cycle of infrastructure projects, especially processes that involve an interface with external agencies. The study was further extended to assess the resultant impact of the delays caused on overall capacity, efficiency, and costs of the project. The study identifies areas that contain business processes and which relative to other processes in the life cycle of a project are disproportionate, or a cause of significant time delays in completion of such projects. Such disproportionate business processes that are unpredictable and vary greatly from the planned time or inputs are areas that can be the focus for selective and further analysis, process re-engineering and recommendations. Such areas can be targeted to improve the overall business and regulatory environment applicable to players and stakeholders relevant to infrastructure projects. The study identifies that corruption in the overall environment exists which over time has become embedded and is accepted as necessary, if a project is to be successfully won and then executed with minimum hindrances from the government. These practices cannot be called business processes but are an integral and unavoidable reality of the current business environment. The PIICA study highlights: (i) the business processes and relative time and effort required at different steps during a project life cycle, under normal or prevailing business environment in the country; (ii) the business processes and relative time and effort required at different steps during a project life cycle, under normal or prevailing business environment in the country; and (iii) the defined and undefined procedures that exist, many of which are not stated in contract documents, neither in project plans nor subjected to risk analysis and risk mitigation at the outset. These appear to render the best of project time lines and budgeted plans as mere estimates.Publication Development of Construction Industry : A Literature Review(2007-11-01)The construction industry in Pakistan is well aware of the challenges it faces and its issues, constraints, and recommendations are also well documented in reports published from time to time. This study shows that business environment (demand-side), Human Resources (HR), equipment and materials are key factors restraining growth therefore showing that there are no short-term fixes for these problems. A sustained long-term committed approach to developing the construction industry (contractors, consultants, and, clients) is of paramount importance. Considering the Government of Pakistan's (GoP) ambitious development plans for the coming years, innovative and out of the box solutions will be required to deliver the proposed infrastructure projects.
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