POSCO Engineering and Construction Co. (POSCO E&C) has been awarded the Friendship Medal by the Vietnamese government in recognition of its successful establishing of a master plan for Hanoi’s new city.

The Vietnamese government presents the Friendship Meda to foreign organizations and individuals which have made remarked achievements and promoted cooperation in the Vietnamese economy, political, diplomatic and military fields.

Among those on hand at a prize ceremony held at the residence of the Vietnamese Construction Ministry on Oct. 5 were Nguyen Tran Nam, deputy construction minister,; Nguyen Van Khoi,head of Hanoi’s People Council,; POSCO E&C Vice Chairman Chung Dong-hwa,; POSCO E&C Managing Director Park Yong-soo,; Sohn woo-joo, the construction officer from the Korean Embassy in Vietnam.

POSCO Vice Chairman Chung said, “We’ll make more efforts to promote partnership and personal relations with Vietnamese business partners and cooperative firms, and we’ll strive to ensure shared growth with more Vietnamese firms.”

POSCO E&C succeeded in winning the order for devising a master plan for Hanoi’s new city, which will become Vietnam’s new hub, after going through cutthroat competition with Japanese companies. The order was offered to a consortium constituted of companies including the global U.S. architectural firm Perkins Eastman in September 2008.

The project, launched in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of Hanoi as the Vietnamese capital to Honoi, calls for expanding the size of Hanoi to 3,344.6 square km, three times the current size. The master plan has been completed and has been given the gree light from the Vietnamese government in July 2011. It is a mega-project covering many sectors such as the construction of a new city, roads, waterworks, sewage, electricity, stream restoration, railroads and telecommunications sectors. 

The master plan calls for the establishment of an ecological environmental protection plan, the zoning of green corridors for preventing reckless urban development, with the goal of the construction of an eco-friendly, ecological, futuristic and sustainable green city.

With POSCO’s E&C’s successful establishment of the master plan and the winning of the medal, the Korean contractor is more likely to enhance its standing in that country and more Korean firms are expected to participate in the process of urban development in the future, company officials said. 

Since 1995, one year after its establishment, POSCO E&C has been participating in steelworks, ports, hospitals, highways and other SOC projects in several Vietnamese areas, including Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Haiphong. 

POSCO E&C is also engaged in the construction of Vietnam’s first self-reliant city, Splendora, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway project and others.