Grace Najjar, Managing Director - MENA region at the Project Management Institute emphasises the necessity for the construction industry to embrace innovation to bridge the talent gap. Megaprojects are crucial to effective urban and social development, as well as economic growth. Thus, it is no surprise that leading Middle Eastern countries have witnessed a surge in the construction market, which is expected to grow at a 4.69% CAGR in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a 5% CAGR in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) by 2027, according to <a href="https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/uae-construction-market#:~:text=The%20UAE%20construction%20market%20was,the%20period%20of%202022%2D2027.">Mordor Intelligence.</a> Noteworthy initiatives such as The Qiddiya Water Theme Park, the Beeah Headquarters, and the Diriyah Gate, which ranked first on the Project Management Institute's list of the Top 10 Most Influential Projects for 2022 in the MENA region, offer benchmarks for the world on how to incorporate sustainability, innovation, and cutting-edge technologies in the construction sector. However, the integration of innovation and technologies as well as the growing complexity of projects bring with them a need for skilled resources, which exacerbates the industry's already acute labour shortage. According to the <a href="https://www.pwc.com/m1/en/media-centre/2022/capital-projects-infrastructure-survey-captures-mood-of-optimism.html">PwC Middle East Capital Projects and Infrastructure 2022 Survey</a>, over a fifth of respondents anticipate that in the future, the demand for talent will outpace their capacity to retain and/or attract people. The top area that will constrain them, according to 41% of respondents, is access to skilled resources. In response, nearly half of those polled (42%) said that investing in people was their top priority, and 69% said that investing in people was one of their top three priority areas. Organisations will need to promote learning programs, retain — and build — a new workforce outfitted with the skill sets to deliver an infrastructure revival to overcome these difficulties and narrow the talent gap. According to Joseph M. Gebara, PH.D., Group CEO of C.A.T. Group up-Skilling their team, and especially their project managers, project engineers, as well as their construction managers and construction engineers, is key to their strategy to accelerate the development of their project leaders and to form new leaders from within their organisation. As the top professional organisation for project management, PMI provides the <a href="https://www.pmi.org/certifications/construction" target="_blank">Construction Professional in Built Environment Projects (PMI-CP)TM</a> for construction businesses. This certification guarantees organisations have certified project managers and skilled project professionals, who are fully prepared with the essential project management abilities, business acumen, updated working methods, and necessary understanding of emerging technology required for the effective use of investment and deliverables. Mr. Gebara, also believes that with the traction in the market, establishing new competencies is important to the future of the construction industry. PMI’s project management and construction programs are a key to the up skilling of our team. Project Management skills must be embedded within the culture and the DNA of any project team member and not necessarily restricted to managers. In a way, we need to approach it like HSE.” PMI-CPTM is an industry-specific certification established with the assistance of construction professionals from the Lean Construction Institute (LCI), the Construction Industry Institute (CII), and worldwide industry experts such as Saudi Aramco. The certification includes seven e-learning courses that cover the industry's major pain points and provide construction professionals with the knowledge to address them: