Construction Conferences, Oct 2009: Foreword by the Chair of the Organizing Committee

Foreword by the Chair of the Organizing Committee

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh or peace be upon you and dear all.

It gives me great pleasure in welcoming all or as we say it in Bahasa Malaysia, Selamat datang to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, to the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), to the Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED) and especially to the Conferences:

· Inaugural Conference Construction in the Muslim World, 21^st October 2009;

· 5^th International Conference on Multi-national Joint Ventures for Construction Works, 21^st – 22^nd October 2009; and

· 2^nd Conference and Workshop on Construction Law and Economic Circle in Asia and Pacific (CLECAP), 23^rd October 2009.

Briefly, the Inaugural Conference Construction in the Muslim World focuses on issues, problems and strategies related to construction in the 57 countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference or OIC where Muslims form the majority of the population. The Conference also explores on how best construction could be employed to spur and sustain socio-economic growth and development in these countries and on how best to enhance collaboration between the Muslims and others using construction as the medium.

The 5^th International Conference on Multi-national Joint Ventures for Construction Works is somewhat like a home-coming for us at IIUM for it was IIUM and Kyoto University that initiated this area of study and hosted its first international conference in 2005 in Penang. The conference venue moved to Hanoi in 2006 (co-hosted by the University of Transport and Communications), Bangkok in 2007 (co-hosted by the Asian Institute of Technology), and to Tainan in 2008 (co-hosted by the National Cheng Kung University). Now into its 5^th year, the interest in the area of multi-national joint ventures for construction is as strong as ever.

The 2^nd Conference and Workshop on Construction Law and Economic Circle in Asia and Pacific (CLECAP) concerns education, training and accreditation of experts in the areas of construction law, construction economics, construction technology and management and in contract administration focusing on countries of the Asia and Pacific Regions. The inaugural CLECAP conference was held in Kyoto in 2008 and was hosted by Kyoto University.

In addition to acting as host of all three conferences, the Organizing Committee is also entrusted with the preparation of the proceedings. This book is a compilation of the three conferences’ proceedings. The book also illustrates the diverse interests that practitioners, academics, students, researchers, civil servants and policy makers and others related to construction from across the world have, yet they are able to integrate efforts, to collaborate towards making the world’s natural and built environments a better place through their continuous efforts in research and in publications on aspects related to construction management. As such, the Chief Editors’ choice of the title of this book Collaborative Efforts in International Construction Management is considered most appropriate.

We at IIUM are honored to be given the trust to act as host of the above conferences. We endeavor to provide the best to ensure all three events are successful in meeting their respective objectives.

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the many individuals and organizations that are involved in bringing the three conferences to success especially IIUM, Dean of KAED IIUM, Kyoto University, CLECAP, Global Centre of Excellence Program of Kyoto University or G-COE for meeting the printing costs of this book, all three conferences’ Advisors and Governors, all three conferences’ International Scientific and Review Committees, etc, editors of all three conferences’ proceedings, all speakers and participants and to staff and colleagues of the Organizing Committee. Names of all those involved are duly noted in the respective proceedings.

Selamat bermesyuarat or happy conferencing.

Before you leave please do take some time to visit the many interesting places that Malaysia has to offer and I make du’a for all to have a safe journey home.

Thank you and Wassallam.

Professor Sr. Dr. Khairuddin Abdul Rashid

Chair of the Organizing Committee (Overall)

Chair, Inaugural Conference Construction in the Muslim World

Co-Chair, 5^th International Conference on Multi-national Joint Ventures for Construction Works

Co-Chair 2^nd Conference and Workshop on Construction Law and Economic Circle in Asia and Pacific (CLECAP)

Kuala Lumpur

20^th October 2009