South Korea is seeking to ramp up its global infrastructure sales by taking advantage of what it sees as frustration with China in Africa, while working with other nations to help reconstruct war-ravaged Ukraine.
“The worldwide population is growing at a very high speed and there are many construction needs,” Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Park Sang-woo said in an interview on Tuesday. “Many nations lack the expertise and the money, so they need a partner.”
Seoul is encouraging its developers to renew their attention on countries with pressing infrastructure needs after a slide in the value of deals from a decade ago. The focus will fall on emerging nations, where growing populations are fuelling a surge in demand for roads, bridges and ports as South Korea’s own economy slows and births fall.
To this end, the nation is helping secure loans for companies for development projects, Park said. South Korea is also hosting the Global Infrastructure Co-operation Conference this week with participants from some 30 nations, he added.
Construction is already the economy’s third-largest source of foreign earnings after semiconductors and automobiles, Park said. Still, data shows that South Korea has lost a large chunk of its overseas construction business as it ceded ground to China on providing infrastructure deals.
China has been a major player in Africa’s infrastructure boom over the past decade. Sometimes its large-scale funding has generated accusations that Beijing is using loans to increase its political leverage. Park also raised questions about the quality of China-led projects, but didn’t provide specific examples.
“China was no advanced country, but it had money. After more than 20 years of experience, the world is getting to know that Chinese quality is not that good after completion,” Park said.
As part of its broader international outreach initiatives, South Korea is also seeking a bigger piece of the reconstruction efforts in Ukraine. South Korea has laid some of the groundwork for co-operation by supplying Ukraine with humanitarian aid as a US ally since Russia invaded the country in 2022.
Still, South Korea needs a better understanding of Ukraine and its needs, and is therefore in talks behind the scenes with Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey so it can play a role in infrastructure projects and provide financial and technological assistance in the process, Park said.
Areas that haven’t been ravaged by war can benefit from a steady supply of construction assistance as Ukraine tries to function as normally as possible, Park said. South Korea can play a bigger role when the war ends, he added.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Ukraine last year in a show of support the country in its fight against Russia. The country pledged $2.1bn in loans to Ukraine in April.
Seoul has refrained from supplying weapons out of concern that might provoke retaliation by Russia against South Korean companies operating there.
