K-water Looks to Expand Its Business Horizons Abroad

Promotes overseas projects to aggressively cope with changing internal and external business environment

K-water is stepping on the gas to expand its business horizons abroad as the domestic water management market is saturated. By making the most of the experiences in water management it has acquired for the past 40 years, K-water is striving to strengthen its presence in the foreign market in a bid to tap the global water market, which is forecast to grow in the years to come.
K-water is turning its eyes to the overseas market to cope with the changing internal and external business circumstances. In Korea, the water management market is facing with a limited growth potential as sluggish sales in dam water use and raw tap water in metropolitan areas have led to a reduction in investments into the construction of dams and waterworks. On the front abroad, a few water management multinational firms are predicted to control a more than 50 percent in the glob market in the future, and there will be a heightened demand in the commercialization of tap water and sewage treatment series. In the wake of the international standardization of service activities related to drinking water supply and sewerage, international pressure is expected to mount for the opening of the domestic drinking water supply and sewerage markets.
K-water made its debut in the foreign water management market as it conducted a river basin survey in China in 1994. Since then, the corporation has accumulated the capacity to undertake overseas business projects, has built foreign business hubs and has contributed to enhancing national and its standing as it has been primarily engaged in carrying official development assistance (ODA) projects.
In 2005, the corporation established the Overseas Business Division as part of its efforts to diversify its business portfolios as technology export and investment businesses and build infrastructure for creating new growth engines.
K-water had finished 29 projects in 18 countries with an aggregate value of 33.5 billion won. The corporation is now conducting nine more in eight countries with an aggregate value of 347.7 billion won. K-water has built business hubs in Cambodia and Vietnam in the Southeast Asian region; India in the Southwestern Asian area; Iraq in the Middle East region; and Equatorial Guinea in the African area. It has accumulated experiences and expertise and nourished experts while successfully carrying out overseas projects. It has signed agreements to promote cooperation with 22 governments and private companies in 16 countries.
One of the strategies K-water employs in order to strengthen its presence abroad is diversifying overseas project business portfolios. It strives to strategically perform technology consulting service projects in such areas as survey, design and construction supervision, which are ordered by the Korean government as well as Koran and foreign economic institutions, including the Asian Development Bank and the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
K-water plans to focus on investing Greenfield projects in the water-related area, including build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects that accompany operation and maintenance in the tap water and sewage treatment areas. It wants to make inroads into foreign markets with a focus on acquiring the rights to operate facilities while focusing on investments in the sewerage area in a long-term perspective. The corporation tries to employ a government package strategy of lining infrastructure projects with exploring natural resources in foreign counties in collaboration with Korean leading companies with rich technology and experiences. K-Water wants to form consortiums with Korean companies in entering foreign markets by capitalizing on the public enterprise’ strengths and rich experiences. K-water is devoting itself in expanding its overseas business infrastructures by widening information channels, building an overseas business information network and facilitating overseas agents network. It is also strengthening the capability to raise funds and manage risks.

K-water Active in Social Contribution Programs

Carries out diverse activities in Korea and abroad

K-water is conducting social contribution activities under the catchphrase “We Make Society Happy With Water.”
The company plans to perform the Clean Water Campaign to proliferate the water quality improvement program even at small streams in cities across the nation by forming the Clean Water Network on top of supplying clean, safe water.
K-water’s social contribution activities are divided into “sharing filial duty” service programs, voluntary activities programs, “Sharing Plus” and overseas social contribution programs.
K-water has signed an MOU for offering medical services with the Korean Open Doctors Society to promote the health of residents in neighborhoods adjacent to 10 dams, including the Namgang Dam, with poor environmental conditions. In 2009, they conducted a “sharing love” medical service program at the “Sharing Filial Duty Center” near the Namgang Dam in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, where 250 people including elderly people living on their own and multicultural housewives were given medical care. By taking the initiative in sharing jobs, K-water made cuts in its budget and spent the money to arrange for 620 unemployed housewives’ temporary jobs.
K-water has also turned its eyes to other countries. In 2006, the company began volunteer activities in Tajikistan. The company carried out the “Digging a Happy Well” program in Cambodia in 2007; the “Construct the Mobile House/Ger Program” in Mongolia in 2007; developed waterworks for eight villages in Vietnam in 2008; installed four tap water tubular wells in the Philippines; and nine tap water supply systems in Vietnam in 2009. The company’s overseas volunteer activities will keep going in Southeast Asian countries this year. nw

K-water’s overseas corps members mingle with Philippine students as they conduct a volunteer activity to repair a school in Pampanga Province last year. The corporation is striving to expanding its overseas business horizons,; K-water President and CEO Kim Kuen-ho

A volunteer team from K-water is engaged in kimchi-making for the elderly last November.