The engineering and construction markets in Australia are expected to grow strongly over the next few years, according to construction giant Leighton Holdings (ASX: LEI).

Leighton CEO Hamish Tyrwhitt, who confirmed the group’s guidance on Thursday, said this growth will be underpinned by significant investment in mining and a strong pipeline of heavy industrial projects such as LNG and coal seam methane.

“Contract mining in Australia and overseas is expected to continue to support activity levels as the economies of Asia keep urbanizing and industrializing,” he added.

Across Asia and the Middle East, infrastructure opportunities also remain abundant with the recent award to Leighton Asia of a A$1.2 billion joint venture contract to construct the West Kowloon Terminus Station North in Hong Kong evidence of the sort of attractive opportunities that are emerging.

Off the coast of Iraq, Leighton Offshore has recently been awarded two contracts worth almost US$600 million to provide oil pipeline infrastructure to facilitate the export of crude oil from that country. Iraq plans to increase its crude oil production capacity by more than 2.5 times by the end of 2014 which should provide a range of opportunities for the Group to leverage its capability in this niche market.