Seoul, Jan 3 (NationPress) South Korean construction firms have surpassed $1 trillion in total overseas construction contracts, as indicated by the transport ministry on Friday.
This milestone was achieved 59 years after Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. secured its initial overseas contract to construct an expressway in Thailand in November 1965.
During the January-November timeframe, local builders acquired $32.69 billion in overseas contracts, as reported earlier by the International Contractors Association of Korea, bringing the cumulative total to $996.5 billion by the end of November, according to Yonhap news agency.
The December figures are still pending release; however, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed that the nation's total overseas contracts exceeded the $1 trillion threshold during that month.
Almost half of the contracts in 2024 originated from Saudi Arabia, per ministry reports.
Although the nation did not meet its annual goal of $40 billion in 2024, the total reached the highest amount since 2015, when overseas construction contracts hit $46.1 billion, the ministry disclosed.
In the meantime, the total orders received by domestic construction firms from the Middle East reached nearly US$10 billion this year, showing remarkable growth compared to 2023, as indicated by recent industry data.
As per data from the International Contractors Association of Korea, domestic construction companies obtained project orders worth $9.98 billion from the Middle East between January and May last year, marking a more than sixfold increase from the $1.5 billion recorded during the same period the previous year.
This substantial year-on-year growth was driven by Samsung E&A Co., formerly known as Samsung Engineering Co., and GS Engineering & Construction Co. winning a $7.3 billion project in Saudi Arabia in April.
Thanks to the strong results in the Middle East, the overall overseas contracts for domestic firms from January to May totaled $13.64 billion, reaching the highest level for this period since 2020.
