The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building. [The Herald Business DB]
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport building. [The Herald Business DB]

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Thursday it will co-host a results-sharing forum with the Korea Overseas Construction Association on the ministry's in-depth information advancement project for promising overseas construction markets.

About 120 participants from the ministry, related public agencies, industry associations, and construction and engineering firms are expected to attend the forum to share key strategies and detailed information for entering the global construction market.

The project, which the ministry has run since 2021, provides Korean companies with practical, detailed information on the construction environments of target countries — including local construction laws, tax regimes and licensing procedures. The program significantly expanded its country coverage in 2024 to build a stronger base of essential information, and last year it surveyed and analyzed tailored in-depth data on five countries and one regional market for Korean firms.

To help minimize risk during actual project execution, the ministry collected local unit-cost data for labor and materials as well as key tax information such as corporate tax rates. It also identified mandatory impact assessment frameworks at each stage of investment development projects, arbitration systems for dispute resolution, and major difficulties faced by Korean companies operating locally. In addition, the project analyzed each country's competitiveness, market and operating conditions, and key entry issues from multiple angles, then developed country-specific market entry strategies that companies can apply on the ground immediately.

The project's country coverage has expanded steadily — from Vietnam in 2021, Indonesia in 2022 and Saudi Arabia in 2023, to Australia, India, Canada, Ukraine, Poland, the UAE, urban development projects in Asia and Africa, and the EU construction market in 2024, and further to the United States, Egypt, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe in 2025.

The forum is divided into three sessions. The first covers the United States, where large-scale projects involving small modular reactors, power transmission networks and LNG are under way, and Eastern Europe, where nuclear power plant and railway contracts are anticipated. The second focuses on Egypt, where energy and new town development are active, and Malaysia, where energy transition cooperation is expected. The third addresses the Philippines, where transportation infrastructure and smart city projects are promising, and Bangladesh, where public-private partnership opportunities in water supply, sewage and railways are growing.

Kim Seok-gi, director general of the ministry's construction policy bureau, said proactively managing the risks posed by complex local regulations, licensing requirements and tax systems has become a core competitive advantage in winning overseas construction contracts. "The government will continue to provide the most accurate and advanced tailored information so that companies can feel the difference, and will offer active support," he said.

Meanwhile, the ministry earlier this month finalized the Fifth Basic Plan for Promoting Overseas Construction (2026–2030), which sets out medium- and long-term policy directions for transforming the structure of the overseas construction industry.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com