Honoring Overseas Construction Operations

Prime Minister Kim presents medals and citations to those who did outstanding work in overseas construction

International Construction Day honored those in the construction industry for their contributions to the development of the industry’s overseas operations with medals and citations awarded in a ceremony held at Construction Hall in Nonhyun-dong, southern Seoul, on Dec. 7 with a slew of dignitaries and construction executives in attendance totaling some 500, led by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and Minister Chung Jong-hwan of the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs. Chairman Lee Jae-gyoon of the International Contractors Association of Korea, the organizer of the event, was also among the participants.
Prime Minister Kim said in his speech at the ceremony, “Competition in the world construction market is growing more intense and we cannot expect to lead our position with yesterday’s strategies to ensure our success tomorrow. Advanced countries continue to lead the world with their advanced construction technologies and our capacity to finance our projects and technical manpower pool lag behind those countries.
“In order for us to stand upright as an advanced country, strong in construction, overcoming the shortcomings, we have to have a competitive edge over others.”
The prime minster pledged the government will do its best to provide support to the construction industry by dispatching its missions to Africa and Central and South America to help overseas construction firms win more projects in those regions. The government will also expand its investments in global infrastructure and assist in the procurement of financing by the industry through the linkage of Korea Exim Bank and the Official Development Fund and diverse financial sources.
Chairman Lee of ICAK said that this is the 5th International Construction Day since its launch in November 2005 in a bid to develop the overseas construction sector. This year is significant in that overseas construction projects clinched by Korean builders surpassed the $60 billion mark as of the ceremony and is certain to reach $65.3 billion by the end of this year, the largest in its history.
It has been 45 years since Korean builders began assaulting the overseas construction market and they have made an enormous contribution to the growth of the national economy by creating a base for Korea’s economic take off. Furthermore, even during the economic crisis sweeping the world in 2008, the overseas construction industry clinched overseas construction projects in record amounts, helping the Korean economy recover from the crisis the fastest among OECD economies.
During the ceremony, medals and citations were presented in recognition of meritorious achievements in overseas construction this year. President Kim Jong-in of Daelim Industrial Co. won the Industrial Merit Gold Medal and President Kim Kook-yeon of STX Construction got the Industrial Merit Silver Medal for their contributions to the huge achievements of the overseas construction industry. The Bronze Medal went to Managing Director Kim Ho-sang of Hyundai Construction.
Daelim Industrial President Kim said he was very glad to receive the gold medal this year in particular, as overseas project orders clinched have set a record for the nation. He added that he would like to turn over the honor to those who toil in remote corners of the world to complete their projects.
This year, overseas contractors won a record amount of projects with a majority of them plant orders, as many Middle Eastern countries want to expand their oil production facilities and SOC projects with their oil money.
Daelim Industrial and STX Construction have done extremely well in overseas construction, especially in winning plant orders in the Middle East.
Daelim Industrial, in particular, has been a leader in winning plant orders overseas. The company’s remittance of $45,000, part of the payment of its project for a U.S. military base in Vietnam in 1966, was the first remittance by a Korean construction firm operating overseas. In 1973, the company won a project to install a boiler at an Aramco oil refinery in Saudi Arabia, which went on record as the first overseas construction project won by a Korean construction firm overseas. nw

A group of CEOs of construction companies operating overseas are shown at a ceremony on Dec. 7 in honor of the International Construction Day held at the Construction Hall in southern Seoul.; Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik delivers his commemoration speech at a ceremony for the International Construction Day on Dec. 7 at the Construction Hall in Seoul with over 500 participants, most of them from the overseas construction industry and related organizations.