KARACHI - The 4th International Conference on Construction Industry (ICCI-2009) with the theme of Overcome the Barriers and Meet the Challenges of 21st Century was held on Saturday at Karachi Expo Centre. The conference was inaugurated by Zubair Motiwala, Advisor to CM & Chairman, Board of Investment, Sindh & Co-Chairperson Asif Qadir, President, Engro Polymer & Chemicals. The objective of the conference was to provide a platform, where Industry experts would bring to light the trends & problems of quality construction, practices of bylaws & applications, management & maintenance of existing buildings and means of communication-roads, highways, motorways, subways, tubes, mass transit system, railways, airports, seaports, dams, reservoirs etc. This podium was also very significant to dig out and identify real problems for taking decisions to overcome the barriers & make efforts to meet the global Challenges of 21st Century in order to get better outcomes. The Conference provided a networking platform where engineers, contractors, builders, consultants, government officials, bankers, policy makers, stakeholders, other practitioners & professionals of Construction Industry exchanged information, views and ideas. Moreover, the ICCI- 2009 conference incorporated focused sessions on Financing in the Construction Industry, Provision of Construction Utilities - The Way Forward & Quality Assurance & Technology in Construction Industry. Meanwhile, the 5th Build Asia 2009 was organised in 3 Halls of expo, where more than 125 Exhibitors from 17 countries are participating. The event is being attended by approximately 52 foreign delegates from China, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, UAE and many more. A number of overseas Pakistanis will also attend the Event, while more than 40,000 trade visitors are expected to visit this icon show. However, the keynote speech was given by Asif Qadir on the driving force behind the PVC Industry in Pakistan. The speakers of the conference were Nadeem Azhar, General Manager, Human Resources, Lucky Cement, Ch. Zubairuddin, New Era Industries, M Shoaib, Zaka Sons, Zaki Ahmed Sharif, Engro Polymer & Chemicals, Tariq Ibrahim, GM Chawla Chemical & Metal Industries, Qasim Tariq, Engro Polymer & Chemicals. Whereas Dr Khursheed Nizam, President, E-commerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd was also present at the occasion.