Investing for the Future: A Comprehensive Study of the Southeast Asian Construction Markets

Korean construction industry made a huge growth over several decades. However, domestic construction market has shrunk in recent years due to the domestic political environments and global economic crisis. Today, the international construction markets become more important to be investigated, and demands for international construction study have risen. The purpose of this study is to search for measures to compare the potential of Southeast Asian countries' construction markets and select strategic target countries where the Korean construction companies pursue to explore for future investments. The research team investigated a range of selection factors which can represent the construction market condition of each country. These factors included the size of the construction industry, economic growth potential, current relationship with Korea, the level of infrastructure development, political situation, etc. After collecting data, each selection factor was scored by experts' analyses and the total score was given to each country. As a result, the rating identified attractive countries for future investments: Myanmar, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. For the target countries, analytical methods were used for in-depth market analysis that can provide comprehensive insight and strategic clue for development of short-/mid-/long-term roadmap and action plans. The research findings would be used to support rational decision making of construction investment advancing to the Southeast Asian economic growth.