Bahrain signs construction contract with Korea's Sungwon Corporation

The contract, worth Dhs400m, was signed by Bahrain's Minister of Works and Housing His Excellency, Sheikh Fahmi Bin Ali Al Jowdar and the founder and Chairman of Sungwon Corporation, Yoon-Soo Jeon. Also present at the signing ceremony were His Excellency, Essam A. Khalaf, Assistant Undersecretary, Ministry of Works and Housing and Mr. Richard Lee, Vice President (Dubai Branch) Sungwon Corporation.

Commenting on the signing of the contract, Mr. Yoon-Soo Jeon, said: "We highly appreciate the whole-hearted support extended to Sungwon by the government of Bahrain, and in particular to His Excellency, Sheikh Fahmi Bin Al Jower to ensure that we can successfully complete the project on schedule. It is a matter of deep satisfaction for us to see a high level of professionalism in both the public and private sectors in Bahrain together with a highly transparent public tender system that puts foreign companies like us on a level playing field when competing for contracts in mega projects.

He added:

"Work has commenced on the Isa Town Gate Intersection, which will become a construction showpiece that will set new trends in the booming construction industry in Bahrain. This project is a great opportunity for Sungwon to showcase its expertise not only in the construction of high rise development but also in civil works for the region. It will enable us to offer our range of world-class services, wealth of expertise and long years of experience to a country like Bahrain that is committed to accelerated economic development."

Sungwon, one of the largest integrated construction companies in South Korea, has flown into Bahrain a number of top Korean civil engineers, in addition to mobilising the special construction equipment that is required to construct the intersection, the first of its kind in the region. The mobilization of labour and equipment will involve an initial investment of over $50m.

Sungwon will introduce innovative construction techniques and practices, and Bahrain's construction sector will for the first time be able to witness the construction of a major flyover using "a launching girder", thereby eliminating the need to use elaborate scaffoldings that disrupt traffic during the 33-month construction stage.

The multi-lane intersection will have 5 different arteries on 3 layers to help maintain the current volume of traffic flow at the Isa Town Gate Intersection, which handles 6,000 cars per hour at peak time. Once the project is finished in three years' time, it will be sufficient to accommodate any increase in traffic that is anticipated in the next years.

The Isa Town Gate Intersection project is Sungwon's first civil works project and its biggest roads project in the Middle East to-date. Sungwon has also opened a branch office in Bahrain to tap the vast potential that exists in public works projects and property and resort development in the kingdom.

Sungwon, which is rapidly expanding its presence across the GCC, won the contract from among five international and domestic companies who had submitted bids. Some 11 international and local companies including joint ventures between international and local business groups , were prequalified for the project.

Mr. Richard Lee, the Dubai-based Vice President of Sungwon listed a number of reasons that helped the Korean construction giant win the Isa Town Gate Intersection contract including its enviable track record of delivering the most sophisticated projects on time in the construction sector in Korea and many other parts of the world, its technical expertise in multi-lane flyovers, its comprehensive proposal for an efficient traffic management system and its consideration for safety in terms of people working on the site, the public and traffic.

Sungwon has emerged as a major contender for private and public construction projects that have been placed under tender in the GCC, as well as setting its sights on the property front in the Middle East. Sungwon has earmarked over $1.2bn in investments over the next three years for the property development sector in the region, almost half of which has been already pumped into building unique world-class lifestyle developments in Dubai's Business Bay and Culture Village, two landmark property hubs being developed by Dubai Properties.