Daelim Sets Higher Goals

Construction giant aims to surpass 16 tln won in sales in 2008, up more than 10 percent

The Daelim Industrial Co. set a goal of 16.15 trillion won in sales and an operating profit of 902 billion won in 2008. The sales target is up 11.6 percent, while the operating profit goal is down 3.1 percent from last year, the company said on Jan. 18. following its executive "Jeju Forum"held at the Jeju Grand Hotel, Jeju Island.
The annual meeting, its 21st, began Jan. 17 and lasted until Jan. 19, led by the company's chairman Lee Yong-koo. The agenda included decisions on such matters as the Daelim Group's visions and strategies. Lee said, "This year, being the 59th year of the group's foundation, we should all reform our practices of strategies, throwing away traditional ways of thinking for the sake of securing the upper hand in competition."The company should find new growth engines and secure the right technologies for a new global market environment and push continuous reform in its products and services, Lee added.
The company won a total of $3.2 billion in new project orders last year, the largest in its history, and aims to secure even more orders this year. The company's sales amounted to 14.5 trillion won and operating profit reached 930 billion won. nw

Lee Yong-koo, chairman of Daelim Industrial Co. and concurrently chairman of the International Contractors Association of Korea

Hyundai Engineering
The company won a project to build an aromatic plant from MOC Co., an affiliate of the Siam Cement Group of Thailand, the company said recently.
The projected plant will be built in the Rayon Industrial Estate, located some 180 km southeast of Bangkok, the largest such complex in Thailand.
Aromatic chemical products include toluene, benzene, and xylene, and are used in paints and other petrochemical products. nw

Taeyong Corp.
The company received an order to build an industrial estate from the Yangsan Local Industrial Complex for 62 billion won. The contract amount comes to 9.5 percent of the owner's revenue, the company said in its notice at the stock exchange.

Overseas Construction Projects to Rise

ICAK Chairman Lee optimistic on winning more than $35 bln worth of overseas project orders

Chairman Lee Yong-koo of the International Contractors Association of Korea said the construction industry achieved a monumental record in its overseas projects last year, one of the most significant years in that sense.
The industry secured $39.8 billion in project orders abroad, double the value of the previous year, with $20 billion coming from the oil-rich Middle East with the help of high oil prices. In the area of plant construction orders, the industry clinched $25 billion worth of project orders.
Through the help of the government and the efforts of the industry itself, Korean builders broadened their foreign operations to Central Asia, Africa and Central and South America last year. Small- and medium-sized construction firms were able to expand their new project orders overseas to over five fold last year.
The construction industry's orders totaled more than $30 billion, corresponding to about 10 percent of exports last year, showing that the industry is shoulder-to-shoulder with such key products as chips, autos and new ships in its contribution to export growth. Very soon, the industry will make Korea the fifth strongest country in the overseas construction business sector. If the industry continues to do as well as it has done in recent years, it will be able to land $300 billion in accumulated overseas project orders in the next couple of years, Lee believes.
This year, too, plant orders from the Middle East have been rising, Asian countries are expanding infrastructure construction and construction is booming in newly emerging natural resources-rich countries such as those in Central Asia and Africa, leading the industry to secure an estimated $35 billion in project orders this year.
He said he cannot rule out the many risks cropping up for the industry this year such as political instability in the Middle East, global inflation that will reduce profitability, increased expenses for raising funds and the expansion of markets in emerging countries.
In order for the industry to continue to secure over $30 billion annually in overseas projects, it has to solve manpower shortages, upgrade technologies and enhance the ability to secure overseas financing. The industry should be able to put itself in a position to lead the efforts to come up with new tasks for new trends, in connection with the changes in the environment of the world construction market.
Its about time for the industry to create new project packages to make deals as well as develop Korean-type U-city models for export, and new products in the areas of civil construction and special construction technologies under diverse strategies and methods. "We should once again firm up the industry's status as a loyal son for the fatherland, and create new futuristic engines for growth by doing our best,"the chairman said.
In the meantime, the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute and the International Contractors Association of Korea agreed that Asian countries would lead the global construction market until 2016 at a joint discussion session held by the two construction-related institutions. A research staff member with the institute said securing overseas projects from now would depend on the ability of each construction company to clinch project orders overseas. He said Asian countries would account for some 48 percent of the global construction market by 2016, up from 37 percent in 2006. In order to make the Asian construction market grow bigger than that of the Middle East, they need to solve the overseas construction financing system and secure overseas construction experts.
Korean construction companies would be able to take around 10 percent of the overseas construction market if they are able to employ the capacities and experiences in overseas construction to the fullest extent possible, Lee said. Kim Chong-kak, technology committee member of the ICAK, said large construction companies should try to win overseas projects on an exclusive contract basis in cooperation with small- and medium-scale construction firms with very good operation records. nw