Large engineering and construction firms will find a growing global market for capital outlays in the years ahead, but investors will be more demanding, according to speakers at the Engineering and Construction Contracting Association’s 42nd Annual ECC Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Mega-projects around the globe should offer contractors significant opportunities in the near term, says Paul Barshop, chief operating officer of Independent Project Analysis, a consulting firm based in Ashburn, Va. In fact, Barshop believes the projected growth curve could prove steeper than the heydays of 2004 to 2007.