Last year, the value of overseas construction contracts surpassed $1 trillion. Achieving $1 trillion in exports and orders is the third instance after semiconductors and automobiles.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 9th that last year's total overseas construction contract value reached $37.11 billion, achieving a cumulative total of $10.09 billion in orders. The accomplishment of $1 trillion marks the first time since Hyundai Engineering & Construction entered the construction of the Pattani-Narathiwat highway in Thailand in November 1965, a span of 59 years.
Analyzing the cumulative $1 trillion in overseas construction contracts, it was found that domestic construction corporations have entered over 80% into the Middle East and Asia. However, over the past three years, efforts have been made to expand into advanced countries such as North America and the Pacific (19.3%) and Europe (10.4%).
Looking at the cumulative rankings by contracting country, Saudi Arabia leads with 17.7%, being the country where domestic construction corporations have secured the most projects. This is followed by ▲United Arab Emirates (UAE·8.4%) ▲Kuwait (4.9%) ▲Singapore (4.8%) ▲Vietnam (4.8%). In terms of the last three years, from 2022 to 2024, the rankings are ▲Saudi Arabia (24.5%) ▲United States (16.9%) ▲Qatar (6.4%) ▲Indonesia (4.8%) ▲Hungary (3.6%), indicating a diversification of contract regions into North America and Europe.
In the case of project types, from the 1960s to the early 1990s, the focus was primarily on civil engineering and construction fields. However, it later showed strength in industrial facilities such as plants, thanks to an increase in demand for crude oil and advancements in technology by our corporations. Recently, there has also been a rise in the entry into service sectors such as engineering.
The largest contract recorded was for the UAE nuclear power plant, which secured $19.13 billion in 2009. This is followed by ▲Iraq's Bismayah New City ($8.03 billion) ▲Saudi Arabia's Fadhili gas expansion program ($7.3 billion) ▲Kuwait's Clean Fuel Project ($7.29 billion) ▲Iraq's Karbala refinery project ($6.84 billion).
In terms of business types, the focus was previously on simple contracting projects, but recently the proportion of investment and development projects has increased. Investment and development projects achieved $5.17 billion, which is 3.5 times the previous year's performance, marking the highest record ever.
The corporation with the largest cumulative overseas construction contracts is Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which accounted for 14.5% of total orders. This is followed by ▲Samsung C&T (9.2%) ▲Samsung E&A (9.0%) ▲Hyundai Engineering (7.3%) ▲GS Engineering and Construction (7.1%). Based on the last three years, the rankings are ▲Samsung E&A (17.9%) ▲Samsung C&T (17.2%) ▲Hyundai Engineering (15.6%) ▲Hyundai Engineering & Construction (9.2%) ▲GS Engineering and Construction (4.8%).
Last year, 254 overseas construction corporations won contracts for 605 projects across 101 countries, achieving a contract amount of $37.11 billion. This marks the third consecutive increase following $30.6 billion in 2021, $31 billion in 2022, and $33.3 billion in 2023, and is the largest amount of contracts since 2016.
Minister Park Sang-woo noted, "Recently, our corporations are seeking new growth engines beyond the traditional construction industry framework in the overseas construction field, such as urban development and railroads. We will continue to actively support our corporations to lead the $2 trillion era in overseas construction through K-Cities, K-Rail, and investment development projects."