Around the world, the resources needed for big new capital projects are scarce. Shortages of everything from commodities (such as steel plates and cement) to engineering, procurement, and construction personnel are delaying projects significantly and generating cost overruns for new factories, refineries, and mills.

Nowhere is the pressure greater than in Asia, where more than 50 percent of the world’s capital investment is projected to take place over the next seven years.¹ As many Western companies tap into the region’s rapid growth, they are finding that the best Asian companies enjoy more than just a home field advantage. Indeed, these formidable competitors have out-performed not only their Asian rivals but also the global heavyweights both in costs and in construction times for major industrial facilities. Reliance Industries, India’s largest private-sector enterprise, for example, built a world-class oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Jamnagar with 20 percent less capital than similar plants elsewhere require, and its time to commission was 30 percent lower. Increasingly, Asian companies achieve such gains while meeting the developed world’s quality and safety standards. Such successes will strengthen the hand of these companies as they branch out to compete for capital projects in the West.

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