Palma.Over the last six years, since the beginning of the recession, public and private construction investment has decreased dramatically, which has left companies with little choice but to expand overseas in order to minimise the damage.
The Construction Association and the Balearic Real Estate Promotion Agency (PROINBA) says that most companies are now studying the possibility of moving into the North African market due to its geographical proximity to Majorca.
Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco are now the chosen areas for the construction sector.
Majorcan companies are applying for public projects and cooperation partnerships over there, since they are all connected to the Mediterranean sea, which would make it easier and quicker to contact and reach in case there are any faults or problems with the projects.
Companies are studying the possibility and making enquiries but so far they have not invested much. But they have the know how' to operate abroad and little by little they are leaving the region and taking their business overseas, said Jose Luis Guillem, president of PROINBA.
Despite this factor, from the two associations, the message to companies potentially interested in taking their trade to North Africa is that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Companies who chose to invest abroad have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy, as well as political problems. Government changes, political unrest and violence, such as what has been witnessed in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya recently are always a possibility.
Central America
One of the companies that has recently invested in Libya had to leave in an emergency to escape the unrest and lack of juridicial support during the Gaddafi era, leaving all their machinery and vehicles behind. Majorcan companies have also started to turn to the Central American market, in particular to Panama and Costa Rica.
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