Daewoo E&C to Focus
on Overseas Projects

New CEO Seo determined to double efforts to clinch more foreign projects

President Seo Jong-uk of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co., who has recently assumed the top position at the leading construction firm in the country, said it has been a record year for overseas projects secured by Korean construction firms, but Daewoo has had many difficulties. Beginning next year, the company will push its international operations and work harder to secure projects overseas, the new CEO said.
During his press conference, Seo said he will make overseas expansion a top priority for the company. He said he worked in Libya in 1979 and 1988 and spent 10 years in charge of domestic housing construction with Daewoo, adding that he will focus on securing construction projects at home and overseas during his tenure as CEO.
He said the recent reorganization is meant to strengthen the marketing operations rather than construction division and, as such, he will leave the construction business to the home construction sector, while the marketing sector will focus on securing project orders overseas in particular. He said his job is to see that each sector of the company works in cooperation with each other in order to secure the maximum amount of project orders.
Seo said he was told about his promotion by Chairman Park Sam-koo. It has not taken long for him to realize what he has to do, as the new CEO is a 30-year veteran of Daewoo. He said he had given a lot of thought to the direction the company should take when he was vice president.
As for the question whether the Kumho group will eventually fill the high positions at Daewoo Construction with Kumho people, he said the group took over Daewoo because it thought Daewoo was strong in personnel and corporate culture and, therefore, Kumho will continue to keep the strength of Daewoo in line with its basic belief in the company. He said the new parent company has shown in personnel moves for Daewoo ever since the takeover.
A native of North Gyeongsang Province, he is a graduate of Korea University with a degree in economics. He began his career in construction with Daewoo in 1977. He was most recently vice president in charge of domestic operations until his promotion to president.
Daewoo Construction, in the meantime, won an order to build a shipyard in Qatar for $610 million. The repair shipyard will have two docks for shipbuilding, six berths and support facilities when it is completed in December 2009.
Qatar is a smaller country than Korea, only one-ninth the land area, but the country produces 900 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and 1.52 billion barrels of oil reserves.
Daewoo began its construction operations in the Middle Eastern country in 2005 with contracts to build an oil refinery and petrochemical plant. The company has pursued more orders in Qatar, following its successes in Libya and Nigeria.
Company officials said they will expand their operations to other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, more so than Libya and Nigeria, with the shipyard project order in Qatar as a foothold.
Daewoo Construction has become the first Korean construction firm to export its own brand of housing construction, "World Mark,"which was announced at a meeting at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The company is building a commercial and residential complex called World Mark Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, which involves the construction of five 10 to 20 story buildings and three underground floors on a 19,743-square-meter piece of land in Malaysia's capital. nw

President Seo Jong-uk of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co.