Building Elsewhere
Domestic construction companies’ accumulative overseas construction projects surpassed US$700 billion (778.26 trillion won) half a century after they first tapped into the global construction market in 1965.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and the International Contractors Association of Korea on June 11, the accumulative amount of overseas construction projects stood at US$699.540327 billion (777.75 trillion won) as of June 10. With Samsung C&T winning the first stage of road construction project in Sydney, Australia, at US$694.7 million (AU$900 million or 771.67 billion won) on June 4, the total amounts reached US$700.234397 billion (778.52 trillion won). This is a record accomplished 50 years after domestic construction companies entered the overseas construction market in 1965. Also, the amount has increased by US$1,000 (1.11 million won) after they reached US$600 billion (667.08 trillion won) in Nov. 2013.
The Middle East had the highest amount of orders in the past 50 years, accounting for 55.5 percent with US$388.47 (431.9 trillion won). Including the Australian project of Samsung C&T, Asia ranked second, accounting for 30.3 percent with US$212.46 billion (236.21 billion won).
Among these Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia came in first with US$132.87 billion (147.72 trillion won), the United Arab Emirates in second with US$68.73 billion (76.41 trillion won), Kuwait in third with US$40 billion (44.47 trillion won), and Libya in fourth with US$36.76 billion (40.87 trillion won). Among Asian countries, Singapore ranked top with US$33.7 billion (37.47 trillion won), Vietnam second with US$29.8 billion (33.13 trillion won), India third with US$17.22 billion (19.15 trillion won), and Malaysia with US$16.4 billion (18.23 trillion won).