Colombia. From November 23 to 28, the XVI version of Expoconstrucción and Expodiseño was held, a fair that allowed the reunion of all the value actors that are part of the sector. This face-to-face version had about 200 exhibitors and was organized by Corferias with National Camacol and Regional Camacol Bogotá and Cundinamarca.
"The fair reflected the good moment that the construction sector is going through, thanks to this edition we show that what unites us as a chain are housing projects, this is how we managed to bring together the 174 productive branches of the 36 economic sectors and visitors learned about the trends and innovations in terms of machinery, design, architectural finishes and technology, among others," said Sandra Forero, president of Camacol Nacional.
And it is that today, construction according to DANE, had in the last period a growth of 14% and is responsible for generating 4 million jobs, thus making it one of the sectors that has most driven GDP growth; of 10.3% between January and September, which leads the country to expand its economy very safely, is more than 8.5% this year, which would be the best performance of this activity in the last 21 years.
Undoubtedly, the fair contributed to this evident growth and strengthening of the sector. Andrés López Valderrama, executive president of Corferias, said that "we must recognize the leading role and commitment of the construction and infrastructure sector of our country, which we have always witnessed, especially during this pandemic where it has shown itself as a sector that does not stop, and has ensured that jobs are generated, while protecting the health of thousands of workers, thus allowing the development of infrastructures, which the country needs to increase its competitiveness, not to be slowed down."
Expoconstrucción and Expodiseño 2021, was also the stage for representatives of departments such as; Atlántico, Bolívar, Tolima, Boyacá and Norte de Santander, will position their products and services, thus corroborating the favorable behavior in the face of the growth of the construction and design sector, which is reflected in the sale of VIS and non-VIS homes.
This was revealed by DANE, in a study in which it shows that the construction of buildings continues on the path of economic reactivation, reporting that in the third quarter of the year, the added value of the building sector presented an annual variation of 8.9%.
In this line, as of October 2021, sales of new housing in the country presented an annual growth of 24% with 198,771 units marketed and according to projections of Urban Coordinate, CAMACOL's georeferenced information system, in 2022 it is expected that 249,400 households will access a new home.
Thanks to this behavior, 80% of the regions already exceed pre-pandemic levels (2019) and 80% register sales higher than those of 2020.
The XVI version also had a business roundtable in which international buyers from the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Bahamas, Cuba, Curacao, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, United States, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos – Islands and Peru, who generated 655 business appointments.
"This business roundtable left us USD 1,896,440, business made at the fair, and business projections of one to three months for USD 6,049,200, three to six months for USD 26,451,150 and six to 12 months: USD 7,542,310. These figures leave us with a total of business expectations for USD 41,939,100" revealed Lilian Conde, project manager of Expoconstrucción and Expodiseño 2021.
Likewise, this edition was the stage for the meeting "Construction and industry for reactivation" attended by the President of the Republic, Mr. Ivan Duque Marquez; the Mayor of Bogotá, Mrs. Claudia López; the Minister of Housing, City and Territory of Colombia, Jonathan Malagón; Sandra Forero president of the Colombian Chamber of Construction – Camacol-; Alejandro Callejas, manager of Camacol regional Bogotá and Cundinamarca. This meeting allowed attendees to recognize the sector as one of the fundamental engines that strengthen the country's economy, generate employment and project the goals that the national government sets with construction and infrastructure.
