Chairman Han Man-hee of the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) converged into one place with global major contractors’ associations heads to have an in-depth discussion on global construction market trends and strategies to promote cooperation.
The Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference 2025 coincided with “Global Construction Partnership Forum” at Westin Seoul Parnas Hotel in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on Sept. 17.
The forum was attended by President Juan Armando Vicuna Marin of the Confederation of International Contractors’ Associations (CICA), Chairman Jan Styliński of PZPB, Chmn. Nguyen Quoc Hiep of VACC, Secretary General Danbo YAO of China International Contractors Association (CHINCA) and Dane Richmond, trade and investment commissioner at the Austrade Seoul.
In an opening speech, ICAK Chmn. Han said, “Of late, the global construction market has been undergoing dramatical changes, such as AI-based technology innovation, digital transformation, accelerated urbanization and convergence among industries, and these changes are bringing about not only new opportunities but also crisis.”
He said, “Now is the time when ramping up international cooperation is getting more important than any time, and if construction associations and related organizations of each country serve as information exchange platforms, it will enable shared growth and practical cooperation on the global market.”
CICA Chmn. Vicuna said, “Expanding of financial access and regulatory reform are essential to ensure sustainable infrastructure and solve housing gap, and introducing of advanced technologies, such as responses to climate change, eco-friendly construction and building information modeling (BIM) will determine the future competitiveness of the global construction market.”
He said, “CICA with a membership of some 50 country members accounts for more than 30 percent of the world’s GDP and it is a global organization, which spearheads sustainable infrastructure development.”
Chairman Styliński introduced major issues, such as large-sized infrastructure projects, energy transition and digitalization, saying that Poland has grown into a top five construction market among EU countries.
He claimed that Poland is faced with structural challenging tasks, such as bureaucracy, a shortage of manpower and fierce competition, and innovation and international cooperation are essential to overcome tasks.
VACC Chmn. Nguyen spoke of Vietnam’s recent 10-year rapid growth, expanded infrastructure investment and the spreading of private-public partnership models.
Chmn. Nguyen said, ”Large-sized projects such as high-speed railway, road, port and energy get under way, and Korean and other overseas companies are much interested in technology transfer and joint investments.”
He added that Vietnam is implementing economic growth strategies to usher an era of $7,000 in per capita income by 2030 and the Southeast Asian country sees infrastructure investment demand surge more than 7 percent per annum.
Austrade Investment and Trade Commissioner Richmond gave a presentation on Australia’s net-zero policies & renewable energy and investment opportunities of new growth sectors, such as data centers and the housing market.
He welcomed Korean companies’ aggressive market entry, saying that Australia aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 82 percent by 2030 and implements a variety of projects, such as large-sized renewal energy infrastructure & batteries, hydrogen, and off-shore wind power.
CHINCA Secretary General YAO shared Chinse contractors’ overseas market entry strategies and green and digital transition as well as examples of jointly exploring markets in third countries.
He said, “Korean and Chinse companies have successfully cooperated in a variety of areas, such as energy, transportation and plant and the two countries need to expand complementary cooperation in the years to come.”
Participants of the forum stressed cooperation among companies and joint market entry to third countries. ICAK Chmn. Han emphasized greater synergetic effects through global partnerships based on smart construction, AI and eco-friendly technologies.
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