Global competitiveness of South Korea's construction companies moved up two
notches to seventh place in 2012, partly due to a rise in overseas projects won
by the builders, a government report showed Thursday.
According to the
report from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, South Korean
builders scored 73.8 points in terms of global competitiveness, taking seventh
place out of 23 countries studied.
The top two spots went to the
United States and China, in that order.
The country was ranked in
eighth place in terms of actual building capabilities, up four notches from its
12th-place designation in 2011, while the competitiveness of its design moved up
nine notches from a year earlier to 10th place in 2012.
However,
growth of the country's construction market slumped from seventh place in 2011
to 16th last year, reflecting the continuation of the slowdown in the country's
real estate market.
"Local construction companies showed great
improvements last year in terms of construction and designing as their overseas
sales showed a steep climb," a ministry official was quoted as saying. "The
country must continue to develop its design capabilities as a new growth
engine."