FIDIC 2024 Annual Report: Celebrating Achievements, Overcoming Challenges, and Looking Forward
On 09 September 2024, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) published its 2024 Annual Report, showcasing the major milestones achieved by the organization. These include the annual financial overview and strategic direction taken by the organization during the year. With more than a million engineering professionals from some 40,000 firms in nearly 100 countries, FIDIC has been the preeminent global representative for engineering, construction, and infrastructure for more than a century.
Over the last year, FIDIC has been in the lead, marking its way through some great achievements in furtherance of better sustainability, improved partnership, and professional development of the global engineering community.
Among the highlights was the successful Global Infrastructure Conference held in Singapore, where FIDIC celebrated 110 years of service. During this event, a new report called for an investment of US$139 trillion by 2050 in pursuit of net zero infrastructure. It really shows how serious FIDIC is in driving sustainability initiatives to address critical environmental challenges.
The year was marked by strong partnerships, with FIDIC continuing to cement its relationships with multilateral banks and governments, expanding its reach worldwide. Events included the Global Leadership Forum, and a whole raft of informative webinars on very topical industry themes like AI, sustainability, and procurement strategies, which attracted wide interest among industry professionals.
Member and Stakeholder Involvement
In early 2023, FIDIC created its new Membership and Stakeholder Services team, charged with enhancing the level of communication and direct engagement with member associations. By the end of the year, FIDIC boasted members in 95 countries, while applications were pending for four more countries. The organization also produced a “Membership Matters” newsletter and put in place a task group reviewing its subscription model, moving from a system based on the number of staff to one based on revenue.
Committees and Councils
FIDIC has the support of seven active committees and three advisory councils, all dealing with business practices, contracts, integrity management, membership, sustainability, and digital transformation. These came to good use as these groups produced a bevy of best practice guidelines and advisory notes and held webinars that attracted hundreds of international professionals on subjects such as AI, procurement challenges, and contract management.
Strengthening Global Partnerships
This year, FIDIC continued to build good relationships with key international counterparts through MDBs, governments, and engineering institutions. Examples include the five-year strategic cooperation agreement signed with the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine in support of reconstruction work in Ukraine. FIDIC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solar Impulse Foundation to support sustainable solutions in the construction and consulting engineering sectors.
Sustainability and climate initiatives
In 2024, sustainability continued to be one of the prime areas of concern for FIDIC. The Sustainable Development Committee was engaged with various initiatives, including the “Nature Positive Infrastructure Playbook” developed with WWF and AECOM. This play is intended to advance nature-based solutions in infrastructure; even further, this guide is an affirmation of FIDIC’s commitment to contributing positively toward the environment. Accordingly, FIDIC drafted net zero procurement specifications for the engineering contracts that FIDIC drafted and took part in various global forums to advance decarbonization, resilient infrastructure, and sustainability.
Driving Digital Transformation
DTC’s activities were oriented to the study of how AI can bring about radical changes in the construction and engineering business. One of the highlights was indeed the very well-received webinar “AI – Powering a New Era for Construction?” that looked at AI uses in infrastructural projects globally. DTC also developed guidance on the inclusion of BIM and AI into contractual frameworks; this shows the proactive stance of FIDIC concerning new technological developments.
FIDIC Contracts and Publications: Update
Following the FIDIC General Assembly Meeting held in Singapore this 2023, FIDIC inked a new five-year licensing agreement with the World Bank, which involved nine contracts and included White Book 2017, Emerald Book 2023, Dredgers 2016, and Green Book 2021. Similar agreements were extended to institutions such as the Caribbean Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the African Development Bank.
A new five-year licensing agreement for the multi-lingual FIDIC Yellow Book 1999 has been signed with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Finally, FIDIC renewed its agreement with Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) KfW, the German state-owned investment and development bank, for a further period of three years with effect from December 2023.
FIDIC also secured a multi-million-dollar licensing agreement with Malaysian Sarawak Energy for an energy project. In January 2024, FIDIC signed a memorandum of understanding on licensing, training, and certification of projects funded by IFIs with the Government of Ukraine.
The International Users Conference, London was scheduled for the major launch of the Emerald Book reprint in 2023 along with the introduction of a new Emerald Guide in December 2023. First practice note for the newly established Dispute Forum of FIDIC-It helps users to understand the dispute board’s role concerning the avoidance of conflict and shows FIDIC’s support at every step towards dispute resolution.
FIDIC also worked to renew important partnerships, including a visit of a FIDIC delegation to the UAE executing authority in May 2024. Renewal of a partnership agreement between FIDIC and the International Chamber of Commerce currently is underway, with good feedback received from industry professionals after the annual FIDIC-ICC Conference held in Paris last October 2023. Another conference is scheduled for October 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.
Translation Efforts for Broader Access
FIDIC has been trying to increase access to its documents in a worldly sense. In 2024, translations of the Rainbow Suite 2022 were made available in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. The FIDIC member associations worked on translations of the Rainbow Suite and other publications in Bahasa, Bulgarian, Greek, Lithuanian, Slovak, Vietnamese, and Arabic. New translation license agreements were signed, with a good number of those translations completed and available during 2025.
These initiatives and achievements underpin FIDIC’s commitment to grow its influence and enhance the services offered to its members across the engineering and construction sectors in various parts of the world. FIDIC has continued to evolve, maintaining leading positions in the promotion of sustainability, elaboration of innovative contracts, and global partnerships despite financial challenges. Other areas in which FIDIC has shown commitment include digital transformation, sustainability, and outreach through translation.
At the start of the new year, FIDIC was rightly well-placed to meet the changing challenges in construction and engineering markets while developing further new opportunities for members in all parts of the world.
