CMIC Puebla bets on private sector projects

Puebla, Pue. The Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry (CMIC) will seek investments from the private sector in order to recover 20% of the 10,000 jobs lost during the Covid-19 pandemic, not seeing greater inertia in public works at the three levels of government in town.

Héctor Sánchez Morales, local president of the organization, commented that the builders of Puebla continue to work more in private works, which represents 85% of the activity, this by not seeing conditions in public projects due to the issue of resources.

He indicated that they expected a change in the work scenario for the second semester, but they continue to see slowness, especially in the municipalities to tender works.

“The CMIC is calling the partners to be calm during the year, in order to participate in projects that are more profitable in the case of public works,” he said.

The leader considered that as long as there is no balance between public and private works, it will be difficult for the sector to recover, which had a good year planned, but they do not see a positive advance in tenders.

He recalled that the more than two years of the pandemic have been complicated for builders and makes them anticipate that the situation will improve for the sector until 2023, because they barely reach 42,000 jobs, when before 2020 they had been generating 52,000 jobs.

He indicated that companies work with the necessary personnel, according to the type of project, but “it is not easy to give it speed to finish quickly and be able to expedite payment.”

Sánchez Morales lamented that this crisis has bankrupted 60 companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, which could not resist the low activity.

Of the construction sector in its different branches, housing development is where entrepreneurs have had more activity due to the high demand in Puebla, although they have had to face increases in material prices of up to 10 percent.

In the housing sector, around 15,000 houses are planned to be developed this year, 70% in the Puebla metropolitan area.

estados@eleconomista.mx