The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) has come up with a pilot program to provide a package of support on overall consulting services to SMEs wanting to make inroads into foreign construction markets. The package of support for SMEs will be tailored to meet their needs, including risk management and tax issues.

The program, dubbed K-Build Bridge, is run during from May 5 to Dec. 31. Experts specializing in overseas construction will be dispatched to smaller construction companies wanting to enter foreign markets to lend a helping hand to them. The reality is that many smaller construction companies are trying to explore overseas markets amidst the prolonged downturn of the Korean construction market, but they are grappling to cope with difficulties they experience due to insufficient experiences and expertise, and overseas environments different from those of the domestic market.  

Currently, the Center for Supporting SMEs’ Winning Orders, established under the umbrella of the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK), offers consulting services, counseling services and information, but they have turned out to be insufficient. 

The program is designed to take a look at complaints and difficulties in smaller companies. Support from the Center for Supporting SMEs’ Winning Orders will help them enter foreign markets. Based on the outcomes of diagnoses, experts suiting each company will be selected and dispatched from a pool of experts.

Selected experts will visit pertinent companies to offer consulting services ranging from the establishment of strategies to making inroads into foreign markets to the winning of orders, contracts, process management and risk management for a certain given period on a constant basis. Furthermore, experts specializing in additional categories, including tax and legal affairs, will be made available to offer consulting services. 

“The pilot program will cover companies that have the potential construction technology to make a difference in foreign markets, and the progress and outcomes of the program will be scrutinized to determine whether it is expanded to cover more companies,” a MOLIT official said. 

Diverse support projects, including overseas construction market exploration and overseas construction on-the-job training program, will be linked strategically so that support efficiency of the K-Build Bridge Program can be maximized, MOLIT said. The program will likely boost smaller construction firms’ overseas market exploration and contribute to parlaying overseas construction and plant exporting into enhanced added value, one of the major goals under the government’s three-year economic innovation plan.

Lee Won-kyu, director of Korea Specialty Contractors Association, said “Specialty contractors will have to explore foreign markets now that the domestic construction market has hit a wall.” Even if they are provided with the Economic Development Cooperative Fund (EDCF), he said, Korean specialty contractors find it tough to compete with strong Japanese and Chinese counterparts. Companies wanting to enter foreign markets can get consulting services from a pool of experts sitting at the Center for Supporting SMEs’ Winning Orders, he added.

The logo of the Korea Specialty Constractors Association,  which is determined to explore foreign markets under the catchphrase "With KOSCA in the world." (website of KOSCA)