Saudi Arabia a big market for South Korean builders

Seoul: Saudi Arabia is emerging as a new gold mine for South Korean builders as orders from the Middle East country jumped in the first three quarters of this year, a trade association said on Wednesday.

According to the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK), orders won by South Korean builders from Saudi Arabia reached a record $10.7 billion (Dh39.3 billion) from the beginning of this year to Wednesday, far outnumbering Iraqi orders worth $3.3 billion and $2.7 billion of Singapore.

The figure is nearly double the orders worth $5.6 billion the builders won from the Middle East country in the same period last year, said ICAK.

The total amount of Saudi orders will go up further, once Samsung C&T Corp's $2.1 billion deal to build a thermal power plant in the country earlier this month is added, which was not included in the tally.

For the past five years, the United Arab Emirates was the biggest market for South Korean builders, but they clinched only $1.3 billion in orders from the UAE during the same period. ICAK said that 43 South Korean builders are working on 40 projects in Saudi Arabia, including 29 new projects won this year.