TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The national construction business market is expected to grow 30 percent to Rp650 trillion next year. As for this year, the construction market is predicted to reach Rp500 trillion. Hediyanto W. Husaini, chief of the Construction Development Board at the Ministry of Public Works, said the estimation is based on the construction market growth trend that increases about Rp150 trillion each year.

Of the figure, Hediyanto said Rp200 billion will be contributed by the central government's construction projects. Rp300 trillion will come from local governments'.

Hediyanto said the national construction market is still dominated by infrastructure projects. However, the total contribution of other projects such as building, mining and housing construction exceeds infrastructure projects.

In the first quarter of 2014, he said, the domestic construction market grew by about 20 percent, a slowdown compared to last year's growth. "Now the new value is around Rp110 trillion. Later in June and July, it will go up," he said yesterday.

Hediyanto said potential in the construction sector is very large as it accounts for 10.45 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). But the figure is still below the industry sector's 23 percent contribution and agriculture's 14 percent. Last year, the national construction market value reached Rp480 trillion, an increase from 2012's Rp340 trillion.

ALI HIDAYAT | MUHAMMAD YUNUS (MAKASSAR)