쌍용건설

Ssangyong E'C is focusing on the Singaporean market as a way to restore its overseas business experiencing a downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ssangyong E'C's Chairman and CEO S. Joon Kim seeks to achieve stable performance by concentrating on the company's existing markets rather than overreaching as part of an attempt to win new overseas contracts in new markets.

 

According to Ssangyong E'C's March 26 announcement, the company is striving to secure civil engineering projects in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, its primary overseas market. At the moment, the company is focused on winning the bid for the Cross Island MRT Line (CRL) construction project in Singapore, which involves the construction of six sections and is worth some USD 2.7 billion.

 

For this tender, the company has formed a joint venture with Hyundai E'C. For three construction sections, the shares of Ssangyong E'C and Hyundai E'C are 51% and 49%, respectively for the other three sections, they are 49% and 51%, respectively.

 

In addition to this project, Ssangyong E'C is seeking to win three architectural projects in Singapore. Currently, the company is involved in bidding processes for 33 overseas projects totaling USD 15 billion, for all of which it has passed the preliminary qualification stage. Among these 33 projects, nine (27.3%) are projects in Singapore.

 

Singapore is a market with special meaning for Ssangyong E'C. The company established its Singaporean branch office in 1980, which made Ssangyong E'C the first Korean contractor to enter the country's construction market. The company gained a foothold in Singapore by winning remodeling projects for the Raffles Hotel (1991), Capital Square Building Shophouse (1999), and other buildings. Later in 2007, the company won the construction contract for the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the landmark of Singapore. In 2008, it also secured the Marina Coastal Expressway construction project, thereby demonstrating its competitiveness in civil engineering as well.

 

Furthermore, in 2016, it won the tender for the project to build the Thompson-East Coast Line (TEL) Section T308, and in 2020, the company also won the contract to build a future-ready general hospital, a project commissioned by the Ministry of Health of Singapore. In this respect, Ssangyong E'C has built a solid track record in the Singaporean market, as highlighted by the company's winning of numerous awards, including the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)'s Certificate of Merit, the Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s Annual Safety Award, BCA's Construction Excellence Award, and BCA BIM Award (Organization Category).

 

"Securing new contracts in Singapore will serve as a stepping stone toward our recovery from last year's pandemic-induced downturn in overseas business," a company official said. Overseas business (40%) accounts for a high proportion of Ssangyong E'C's overall revenue. The company is likely to have experienced poor overseas construction performance in 2020 due to the pandemic.  

Against this back, Chairman and CEO S. Joon Kim is said to have determined that successfully securing new orders in Singapore would help with the company's other bidding efforts. As a city-state, Singapore has limited land resources, so clients ask contractors to fulfill highly challenging requirements. As such, a successful track record in Singapore is considered beneficial to the company's overseas construction business in general. With the overseas construction market expected to slowly recover from the pandemic this year, the CEO and Chairman plans to maintain this year's overseas sales revenue at close to a normal level.

 

Ssangyong E'C has placed its sights on securing USD 1.5 billion (KRW 1.7 trillion) worth of new orders at home and USD 700 million (KRW 800 billion) worth of new contracts in the overseas market. Transcending expectations that the company would lower its overseas bidding goals due to a pandemic-induced slowdown in overseas business, the share of overseas business as a proportion of the company's total business has remained at similar levels.

 

Chairman and CEO S. Joon Kim appears to have focused on a strategy of achieving outstanding performance in Singapore and, based on such success, expand the company's presence into the larger Southeast Asian market. More specifically, in Malaysia and Indonesia, the company plans to participate in profitable high-end construction projects as well as public infrastructure works financed through international loans. As for Vietnam, the recent recovery of the real estate market is leading to the resumption of infrastructure projects, and the company seeks to secure contracts from reliable clients. In Thailand, it plans to reinforce strategic partnerships with local companies.

 

The company has also established the goal of expanding its bidding efforts in other Southeast Asian markets because the Korean government is providing a stable supply of public funds in the region through diverse means, including the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), which is aimed at promoting economic progress in developing economies and Korea's exchanges with these economies.

 

"In the advanced global construction market, we are currently competing on par with global construction giants," Chairman and CEO S. Joon Kim said. "Based on our experiences and the expertise we have gained over the years in overseas business, we will undoubtedly reemerge more profitable than ever."