Manpower Cultivation Pivotal
for Plant Construction Sector
PLANTEH chairman stresses manpower development to expand industry

In the 70s, Korean construction companies made tremendous strides thanks to a boom in the construction industry, caused by oil exporting countries' rising revenues in the Middle East. At that time, they performed work like civil engineering and construction.
Korean contractors, entering the so-called second boom in the Middle East, pin high expectations on the undertakings of the plant industry. Estimates show that Korean contractors are projected to rake in plant exports worth an estimated over $100 billion during 2005, riding on oil exporters' surging revenues, particularly from the Middle East. The 2005 projection represents a jump from $8.4 billion worth of plant exports recorded during last year.
The currently emerging boom in the Middle East forms a striking contrast to the boom Korean contractors had basked in during the 70s. In the past, Korean contractors carried out relatively less sophisticated work like civil engineering, but the job has now been transferred to local companies in the Middle East. Korean construction companies are now turning to more complex, sophisticated plant projects ordered by Middle Eastern countries.
Lee Jae-heon, chairman of Korea Institute of Plant Engineering & Construction (PLANTECH) and also professor of the machinery engineering department at Hanyang University, urges the government to take comprehensive measures, including manpower, in a bid to foster the plant industry as one of new growth engines that will drive the Korean economy.
The domestic plant industry is under control of two ministries, with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) taking charge of overseas construction and plant sectors and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) supervising construction of such facilities as petrochemical plants and incinerators.
Authorities have just recently started to show a keen interest in the plant construction industry. MOCIE has begun to work out the detailed action plan on the development of the industry, whereas MOCT is trying to standardize plant projects. The Ministry of Science and Technology has included plants in a list of technology terminologies.
In reality, the domestic plant industry is facing many problems. Korean companies have landed overseas plant projects worth about 10 trillion won per annum, but the have paid 1 trillion won in royalties on employing principal technologies. As a result, Korean contractors cannot make considerable profits in spite of their efforts and risks.
In an effort to protect the national interests of the plant construction industry, the PLANTECH chairman said, it is an imperative to secure professional human resources. Manpower of the plant construction industry has been shifting from labor-intensive to technology-intensive, and new professional manpower needs to be supplied. The plant industry is compared to the orchestra in the music field. The industry needs human resources majoring in such non-engineering departments as management, financing and management apart from those from machinery, chemistry, electric, civil engineering and architect engineering departments. Young manpower have a tendency to want to work as project managers to some extent with an emphasis in project feasibility and risk management, but the problem is that few engineering department majors are trying to find jobs in the plant construction industry.
The manpower that underwent training and gained expertise in the plant construction industry 30 year ago turns out to contribute to making a national wealth. That indicates that cultivation of manpower is an imperative to help an industrial field proper for 30 years. The cultivation of manpower specializing in development of basic technologies is also essential. Currently, not a single university opens a department related to plant construction. Lee said a master's degree course installed at a special college of Hanyang University faces a closure with no applicants. The government has put the plant construction industry on the list of $10 billion export items, but it has not paid attention on cultivating manpower nationwide. Neither college professors study in a "Plant engineering department," nor they are engaged in engineering research related to the plant construction industry.
Employees at the plant construction industry are now facing a stark reality: layoffs in the process of restructuring. Time-honored technicians who have worked for 30 years or more in the field express worry about layoffs as owners of construction companies prefer state-financed general construction projects guaranteeing profits rather landing overseas plant projects entailing more risks. They work under worse working conditions: underpaid, insufficient leisure time and no state-certified license. However, employees at the plant construction industry are required to learn not only difficult designs and procedures, but also foreign languages, unlike their counterparts in the ordinary construction sector.
The PLANTECH chairman warns that if no attention is heeded on cultivation of manpower, the plant construction industry whose plant exports are projected to grown to $100 billion this year, would be doomed with no manpower with expertise to maintain the industry. nw

Lee Jae-heon, chairman of Korea Institute
of Plant Engineering & Construction (PLANTECH)