Hyundai E&C Wins Design Award

At 9th Design Korea 2007 leading builder is recognized for outstanding capability

Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. won the Prime Minister's Award at the 9th Design Korea 2007 International Conference Nov. 29-30 at the Coex Grand Ballroom in southern Seoul. The international event was hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion with the support of the Korea Federation of Design Association and four economic organizations including the Federation of Korea Industries, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea International Trade Association.
President Lee Jong-soo said design has become a critical area for the construction industry and Hyundai E&C has been working hard to develop its design technology further to an international level. He said the company appreciates the Prime Minister's Award, which is recognition for Hyundai E&C's improved ability to design its buildings, which includes residential and plant structures.
Hyundai E&C recently received an order for a $102 million "380 kV Power Transmission Line Construction Project"from the Saudi Electricity Co.
This project will construct 191 km of 380 kV power transmission lines from Qurayyah to the Jubail Power Substation in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. The construction period is 25 months.
Hyundai E&C won this construction project thanks to its competitive construction capabilities and technologies that have been recognized through the results of previously completed power transmission line construction projects in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
In addition, this project not only puts Hyundai E&C in a superior position for receiving subsequent construction orders in Saudi Arabia, where new power transmission and substation construction projects worth $45 billion are expected to be tendered in the next 10 years, but it also facilitates Hyundai E&C's receiving orders for power transmission and substation construction projects in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries.
"We are strengthening our position as a leader in overseas construction by winning construction orders for electric facilities and plants from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE this year,"said one of Hyundai E&C's officers. "We expect, considering the current situation, to accomplish our order-receiving target of $3.4 billion this year without difficulty. Hyundai E&C has cemented its position as one of the world's top-class construction companies."The company also got an order to build a $250 million power generation facility from the state-run power company in Libya, the company said Nov. 26.
The project, part of a $540 million work to build a gas-turbine power generation plant in Sarir, some 580 km from Tripoli, the capital of Libya, is to be completed in 36 months. Hyundai's cut will amount to $250 million for installing three 250 MW gas turbines at the power plant.
Hyundai already won an order to build two power generation plants for $1.36 billion and another order to build a power distribution grid for $150 million in the North African country this year, which is recognition of the company's superb capability to undertake such heavy construction projects.
The company feels that winning the Libyan projects would lead to follow-up projects and projects in other African countries. Since 1980, when the company first entered the Libyan construction market, the company won a total of $4.75 billion worth of projects in 21 separate works.
The Libyan gas turbine power plant project has brought the total amount of projects won overseas to $3.88 billion, surpassing the $3.4 billion target for this year.
Hyundai E&C has been setting its sights on regaining the old luster as Korea's largest and representative engineering and construction firm since March 2006 when President Lee first took the helm. His push toward recovering the company's decades-old reputation as a construction powerhouse has paid off: Hyundai E&C has completed the workout program it has undergone since the Asian financial crisis and has made a strong showing in Korea and abroad with a stream of new contracts.
In his office at the Hyundai E&C headquarters Lee has a work of calligraphy that reads "Sang Seo Yang Soo"in Chinese characters, which literally means "Be clean and modest like water and lead a life like a stream of water."Lee's motto highlights his management style: ensuring an organizational balance by making up deficits and reducing excesses. The domestic construction and business communities have been paying close attention to the leadership of Lee, who has been pushing to make changes and reforms while remaining true to his principles. nw

President Lee Jong-soo of Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co.