Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hosts 'GICC 2020' to Support Overseas Construction Orders

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will hold the 'Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference 2020 (GICC 2020)' for two days starting from the 7th to provide comprehensive support for overseas construction orders.

Now in its 8th year, GICC has invited high-level officials such as ministers and vice ministers from major overseas countries to provide information for Korean companies to pioneer new markets through high-level meetings, project briefings, and one-on-one business meetings, while also laying the groundwork for human exchanges with overseas clients.

However, considering the global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) this year, all events will be held online.

The opening ceremony of GICC 2020 this year will feature congratulatory remarks from the Minister of Construction of Uzbekistan and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey. Keynote speeches will be delivered by the Vice President of global industry analysis and consulting firm IHS Markit, the Director of MEED, and Professor Lee Bok-nam of Seoul National University, presenting trends and forecasts of the global construction market due to COVID-19 and its impact on the Korean construction industry.

Through meetings with 15 ministers and vice ministers from 12 countries and 15 institutions, including the Minister of Public Works and Housing of Indonesia and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, specific bilateral cooperation plans in the infrastructure sector will be discussed.

Discussions on local export plans of the 'Korean-style Smart City' will be held with Uzbekistan (Minister of Construction) and the Philippines (Minister of Transport). Participation plans for major local infrastructure projects will mainly be discussed with Colombia (Minister of Defense), the Philippines (Minister of Transport), Turkey (Minister of Transport and Infrastructure), and Myanmar (Ministers of Construction and Transport and Communications).

An MOU on Korea-Indonesia facility safety cooperation will be signed with the Minister of Public Housing of Indonesia, expanding the cooperation scope from bridges to all facilities and establishing a foundation to share Korea's disaster management experience in operation and maintenance.

Through a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and plenipotentiary representative for the new airport project of Poland, support will be provided for the participation of Incheon International Airport Corporation in the Warsaw New Airport project in Poland.

A total of 44 institutions and over 50 briefings will be publicly available online, including major clients such as the Ministry of Construction of Myanmar, Ministry of Finance of Kenya, Peru Investment Agency, and multilateral banks such as MIGA, AfDB, ADB, and AIIB.

About 90 online meetings will be held through pre-matching between companies and participants of the project briefings. Despite restrictions on local business trips due to COVID-19, it is expected to acquire business information and strengthen human networks through meetings with clients.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi said, "Despite concerns due to COVID-19 this year, we have achieved $30 billion in overseas construction orders, and we will devise all support measures to continue the achievements and momentum of overseas construction through GICC. We hope that this event, held amid increasing external uncertainties such as COVID-19, low oil prices, global economic recession, and reduced orders, will be a good opportunity to create new order momentum for our companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.