Minister Park Sang-woo of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport emphasized on the 25th that "change and innovation are essential for the construction industry to overcome its current difficulties and make a leap forward."
On the same day, Minister Park mentioned at a seminar aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the construction industry, "As the recent sluggish construction investment continues, the government has been preparing economic revitalization measures since last year and is actively implementing follow-up actions. However, there are limits to short-term prescriptions, and fundamental improvements to the structure for sustainable growth of the construction industry are necessary."
Minister Park stated, "We need to dramatically improve productivity and safety through smart construction combined with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and we must establish a structure that can withstand economic downturns through entering high value-added fields such as investment and development and diversifying business portfolios."
He further emphasized, "We must create new growth engines by not only staying in the domestic market but also exploring the overseas construction market, which continues to expand in size."
At the seminar, experts from industry, academia, and research institutes attended to discuss the direction the construction industry should take. Presentations were made on the topics of "Diagnosis and Future Direction of the Domestic Construction Industry" and "Trends and Implications of the Global Construction Market."
Participants formed a consensus that as the domestic construction market enters a phase of low growth, technological advancement and entry into new fields are necessary. In particular, they gathered around the need for expanded investment in advanced technologies such as modular systems and AI, based on digital innovation, and in maintenance and mixed-use development, where demand is expected to increase in the future.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to actively consider how to incorporate the contents discussed that day into its policies.