The story of IFAWPCA, or the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors’ Associations, replicates the story of the regional construction industry after the 2nd World War. A story which began with a vision, born in a region devastated by conflict—and whose people neither lost their faith to rebuild their lands, nor their courage to face the odds that loomed in the horizon.
A dynamic international organization, IFAWPCA plays a critical role, —
in promoting international fellowship and cooperation,
in developing beneficial relationship between governments and contractors in the region,
and in establishing cooperative working arrangements in furtherance of civil and building construction projects.
For nearly fifty years, IFAWPCA pursued the need for exchange of ideas, experiences, and construction technology amongst its members and affiliates in different climes and geograhical settings
From its inception in Manila, Philippines in 1956, pioneered by only eight (8) founding members, IFAWPCA today groups the fraternity of builders in fifteen (15) countries in the region—from Tokyo and Seoul in the North, to Canberra and Wellington in the down under, from the bustling cities of ASEAN and its neighbors, to the South-Asian capitals of New Delhi and Colombo.
An ardent advocate of global cooperation, and conscious of her dominant role in the region, IFAWPCA led the way in uniting the construction federations of Europe, and the Americas, Asia and the Arab world—a move which paved the way to the formation of CICA, or the Confederation of International Contractors Associations. From then and onwards, the global image of the construction industry as engine of economic progress and vehicle of industrialization was slowly, but surefootedly defined.
And today, aside from its umbilical link to CICA, and its sister-federations, IFAWPCA relates some its concerns in the works of the International Labor Organization, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and other non-government institutions, particularly in the areas of labor training and protection, sustainable development, project procurement and financing.