S. Korean builders vying for public construction

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's large builders are competing to win
public construction orders in a bid to combat a prolonged housing market slump,
industry sources said Tuesday.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., the nation's biggest builder, signed 14
contracts for public construction worth 779 billion won (US$506 million) in the
first two months of the year. The figure is a three-fold increase from 257
billion won a year ago.
"We are aiming to increase orders for public buildings as the housing market is
expected to slump this year," said an official for Daewoo Engineering.
Orders of Daelim Industrial Co. from the public sector reached 204.4 billion won
during the January-February period, while SK Engineering & Construction Co. won
orders worth 173 billion won.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. received 120 billion won worth of orders
for public buildings during the same period.
Increased public sector orders received by builders were attributable to a rise
in contracts from Public Procurement Service and local governments aimed at
boosting depressed local construction market, the sources said.
Public Procurement Service has awarded orders for infrastructure worth 11.7
trillion won until the end of last month. The figure is up from 3.5 trillion won
the previous year, representing 84.8 percent of the planned orders of this year.
Builders, however, predict that competition for the public construction will heat
up after April when large-scale public sector orders, including a canal project
linking Seoul with the western port of Incheon, are expected to be awarded.
Earlier in the month, the South Korean government decided to resume construction
of the canal, five years after it was suspended in the face of stiff opposition
from environmentalists.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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