Sri Lanka plans to provide professional services for the booming construction industry in Qatar and Bahrain, according to a report.

Sri Lanka's Chamber of Construction Industry (CCI) has opened an office in Qatar to tap opportunities in the country and the region.

Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya, CEO and secretary general of CCI, was quoted by Gulf Times as saying that the Qatar office would help the CCI to prospect for propjects in the country.

He said Sri Lanka's State Engineering Corp (SEC) has already signed an agreement in Bahrain to build 15,000 houses.

Over a million Sri Lankans are employed in the six GCC states with 130,000 in Qatar alone.

Thalgodapitiya noted that this could easily be increased to 200,000 because of the huge business expansion and infrastructure creation in Qatar.

Thalgodapitiya said that a large number of foreign guests from Qatar, India, UK and Malaysia are expected to visit the Excon 2008 annual trade fair of the Chamber of Construction Industry to be held at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Hall in Colombo from May 9 to 11.