Hanwha Engineering & Construction Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-chung, right, shakes hands with INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo after the ground-breaking ceremony for the world’s largest indoor arena in Bulacan, near Manila, on Aug. 17. / Courtesy of Hanwha E&C |
Top-tier contractor to build world’s largest domed performance hall
By Kim Tae-gyu
Hanwha Engineering & Construction, one of Korea’s top-tier builders, has signed a contract to establish a large indoor arena near Manila, Philippines, worth $175 million.
When completed in 2014, the 50,000-seat arena will become the largest domed performance hall in the world, the Seoul-based contractor said Thursday.
``The facilities will be built on 74,000 square meters of land and will be three times bigger than the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Stadium, the country’s largest indoor arena,’’ a Hanwha official said.
``Based on our technological edge, we will take charge of the work from the design stage. It will take around 30 months to wrap up construction, which will be finished early 2014."
Hanwha broke ground this week, as ordered by INC, a Philippine Christian foundation, in Bulacan, approximately 27 kilometers north of Manila.
A set of dignitaries took part in the event, including Hanwha Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kim Hyun-chung and INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo.
Hanwha outsmarted a pair of strong rivals in EEI, the Philippine’s top builder, and China’s Giangsu International to win the lucrative contract this year.
The company said that it won the hearts and minds of INC officials thanks to its technological competitiveness.
``We will gain recognition through building the world’s largest indoor arena, which will help us win other contracts across the world,’’ Hanwha Vice Chairman Kim said in a statement.
The outfit has won several big deals over the past few years and is currently carrying out five projects involving electricity plants and refineries in Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Kuwait.
Earlier this year, the company obtained a $1.23 billion order for power and desalination plants in Saudi Arabia.
Hanwha also entered the burgeoning Iraqi construction market, which is expected to emerge as a future cash cow for domestic contractors as the Gulf country is set to rebuild in the aftermath of the long-lasting war.
``Early last year, we set a long-term goal of chalking up 7 trillion won in orders and 5 trillion won in annual sales by 2015 so as to join the world’s top 100 construction firms,’’ the official said.
``We are determined to rack up more than 20 percent growth in the overseas sector per annum so that the revenues can account for upside of 40 percent of our overall top line by 2015.’’
Toward that end, Hanwha strives to diversify its global initiatives across the board as well as to advance into new businesses like renewable energy including solar power.
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