Highway, port, energy facilities among portfolio Hyundai E&C outpaced other major Korean construction firms, securing bids for overseas infrastructure projects totaling $146.2 billion over the past two years, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday. The achievement by the construction arm of Hyundai Motor Group surpassed the distant runner-up, Samsung C&T, by $53.6 billion. Hyundai E&C is set to win a gold plaque at the biannual awards ceremony hosted by International Contractors Association Korea, scheduled for Tuesday, an event the ministry sponsors. According to the government, Hyundai E&C has participated in four of the top 10 largest construction projects outside Korea in the country’s history. These include the Pattani-Narathiwat Expressway in Thailand, completed in 1968 — the first overseas project by a Korean construction firm; the Jubail Industrial Port in Saudi Arabia, completed in 1980; the South Pars Gas Field in Iran, completed in 2013; and the Barakah Nuclear Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), completed in 2020. Nov. 1, the day the company secured the Thai expressway project, was officially recognized as Korea’s Overseas Construction Day. The Barakah project in the UAE, as of Monday, remains the most lucrative single infrastructure construction project secured either by a Korean company or consortium, valued at $19.1 billion. Samsung C&T and Samsung E&A followed Hyundai E&C, each securing total projects worth over $90 billion during the same period. GS E&C and Daweoo E&C followed with projects worth over $70 billion. Six other large-scale Korean companies rounded out the list, with exports ranging between $10 billion and $50 billion. Six small- and medium-size builders with exports between $1 billion and $8 billion also won honors. The list was released as the country celebrates the 60th anniversary of its first overseas infrastructure construction project and surpassing a cumulative total of $1 trillion in overseas contracts. According to the ministry, construction as of last year was Korea’s third-largest accumulated export, following semiconductors and automobiles. The government, citing statistical data from the International Monetary Fund, added that in 2023, the contribution of overseas construction to the country’s current account balance was the highest in value among 20 countries with the world’s largest current account balances, such as Germany, China and Japan. Infrastructure Minister Park Sang-woo hailed the $1 trillion accomplishment as “the country’s monumental achievement proving Korea’s global competitiveness in the overseas construction industry.” He added that Korean companies will hopefully reach the $2 trillion mark by diversifying their growth engines to railroad technologies, smart city and urban development. (ICE SEOUL)

Fonte notizia: The Korea Times