Bridging Vietnam
Hyundai Development Company (HDC) has won a contract to build a bridge in Vietnam, succeeding in landing its first overseas business deal this year. It is also the third and largest project that it has won after it resumed overseas operations last year after 23 years of focusing on the domestic market.
“The Hung Ha Bridge Construction Project,” won by HDC from Project Management Unit No. 1 under the Ministry of Transport in Vietnam on Dec. 21 (Korean time), consists of constructing a 2.1-kilometer bridge and another 4.1-kilometer four-lane road linking Hung Yen and Ha Nam. The US$85.4 million (92.7 billion won) construction will take 36 months after a groundbreaking ceremony in February next year.
Domestic construction companies fiercely competed to obtain the Hung Ha Bridge Construction project, attracting attention. Five large domestic builders, including HDC, made a bid and the evaluation process took about a month after bidding closed on Nov. 5.
The fierce competition is due to its stable profitability. The Hung Ha Bridge Construction Project is funded by the Export-Import Bank of Korea by its Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). Therefore, it can be stably financed and become a bridgehead to win other infrastructure projects in the future, based on the results. In fact, the HDC is about to close a new road construction deal soon, and it is expected to win two contracts, including the Hung Ha Bridge Construction project, worth 115 billion won (US$98.21 million), in Vietnam alone.