Overseas Construction

Korea Eximbank’s CEO Kim Yong-hwan signs an MOU to support US$200 million for road construction in Vietnam with Vietnamese Transportation Minister Danratan on September 9 during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Vietnam.
Korea Eximbank’s CEO Kim Yong-hwan signs an MOU to support US$200 million for road construction in Vietnam with Vietnamese Transportation Minister Danratan on September 9 during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Vietnam.

 

The construction industry is actively expanding into the Vietnamese market. After the US financial crisis, the Vietnamese economy took a downturn and the real estate markets also saw contraction, slowing down Korean business activities in Vietnam. However, as the Vietnamese economy shows signs of recovery, Korean companies are also showing more activity.

According to industry sources, on October 2 Ultra E&C formed a strategic partnership with Vietnam’s key construction company SC5 and design company Nihon Suido, announcing its full-scale expansion into the Vietnamese market. “With our extensive experience abroad, we will focus on expanding into the Vietnamese civil engineering and plant markets,” said Ultra E&C personnel.

Samsung C&T devised a cooperation plan for Vietnam and signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese government for cooperation in electric power, urban development, airports, and the public sector IT businesses. Based on this, Samsung C&T will actively seek to participate in the construction and management of a 1,200 MW thermal power plant and Hanoi urban development.

Seohee Construction successfully landed in Vietnam by winning the contract for the POSCO SS-VINA Exclusive Port project earlier this year. POSCO ICT established POSCO ICT Vietnam and started exploring opportunities. Daelim Industrial, which had no activities since the 2000s, succeeded in winning a project last year.

Construction is actively moving back to the Vietnamese market because the Vietnamese economy is showing signs of recovery. While the growth rate is incomparable to the rapid growth rate in the mid-2000s, it is finally showing signs of recovery from stagnation that persisted for the past 4-5 years.

As prices are stabilized in 1H 2013, various economic indicators are showing positive signs. As a result, foreign direct investments are also on the rise. Foreign direct investments in the real estate markets were at US$1.85 billion last year, more than double the amount invested in 2011.

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