By Jessica Cheam

AFTER emerging from Singapore's worst recession relatively unscathed, the building industry is now in talks with the Government for help in its next phase of growth - overseas.

Singapore Contractors Association (Scal) president Andrew Khng told The Straits Times yesterday that dialogue has been ongoing to explore the possibility of getting loans from the Government to fund the sector's expansion overseas.

'The industry has fared quite well through the recession, but now we want to encourage local building firms to go overseas, and financing is the biggest obstacle,' he said.

Help in the form of a credit line solely for overseas projects would help a lot, he said.

The building industry has so far weathered the crisis thanks to measures announced by the Government in January's Budget, such as risk-sharing loans and wage subsidies, he said.

It has been the star performer of the local economy, with $34.6 billion worth of projects awarded last year. The sector was also given a boost when the Government rolled out several public infrastructure projects recently.

But as building activity reaches saturation point here, firms should pursue opportunities further afield, said Mr Khng, who is also a director at Tiong Seng Contractors.

The industry also aims to be greener. The association yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) to develop a green certification system for contractors.

'The construction industry is very resource-intensive, we want to educate our members - from main contractors right down to the small home renovators - about sustainable practices. This will be the first step in that process,' said Mr Khng.

SEC executive director Howard Shaw said he was excited about working with Scal to develop a master framework that will set some guidelines for contractors to follow to improve their environmental performance.

'There is so much potential in this sector for efficiency, so we will work on coming up with something by March next year,' said Mr Shaw.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.