Dear Practitioner,The construction industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic but it is showing signs of recovery. The sector is likely to experience a shot in the arm as countries focus on infrastructure building to boost their economies. However, construction companies face a major talent gap in terms of digital skills and management capabilities. They are urgently looking at upskilling their workforce to close the gap.Are you ready to seize an opportunity if it knocks on your door? PMI’s new construction-focused certification and micro-credentials will help construction professionals upgrade their skills and meet the new demands in the market. Look out for an article on that in this newsletter.In this special edition of Manage South Asia, we are focusing on project management in the construction sector. In line with the theme, we have invited an expert to talk about technology innovations that are driving change in the construction industry.For the cover story, we are featuring two outstanding examples of how the use of project management best practices and innovation can deliver success in the face of the toughest challenges. These projects were honored for project excellence at the PMI South Asia Awards 2021.This month, we held two in-person events for the first time since the pandemic – the South Asia Chapter Presidents Meet and PMI Region 11-Region Meeting in Pune. It was a great feeling for the chapter leaders to be meeting their colleagues and friends after months of online sessions. The events were hosted by Pune-Deccan India Chapter.PMI has entered into a partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to help CII member companies develop project and program management capabilities. With this partnership, we look forward to deepening PMI’s reach and impact across sectors.Do read our recently released 2022 Jobs Report that shows the growing demand for project talent and job opportunities across the globe.I am happy to announce that the annual Project Management South Asia Conference (#PMSAC22) is scheduled to take place on 9 and 10 December in Mumbai. For details, click here.Kind regards,Dr. Srini SrinivasanManaging Director,PMI South Asia