KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's construction sector sustained its positive momentum in the first quarter with the value of work done expanded by 9.4 percent year on year to 32.2 billion ringgit (about 7.23 billion U.S. dollars), official data showed Wednesday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the expansion was supported by a double-digit increase in civil engineering with 17.2 percent, followed by non-residential buildings sub-sectors and special trade activities, which increased by 9.6 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the value of work done in the residential buildings sub-sector declined by 2.2 percent as against a positive growth of 5.3 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
Civil engineering accounted for 37.6 percent of the total work done value, while non-residential buildings contributed 30.5 percent.
Additionally, the residential buildings and special trade activities represented 21.7 percent and 10.2 percent of the work done value, respectively.
The private sector remained the main impetus to the growth in this quarter, with an increase of 10.6 percent.
The value of work done by the private sector amounted to 19.8 billion ringgit or 61.4 percent of the total construction work done value.
On the other hand, the value of work done by the public sector stood at 12.4 billion ringgit or 38.6 percent of the total value, which rose by 7.4 percent in this quarter. (1 ringgit equals 0.22 U.S. dollars) ■