Korea’s biggest infrastructure gathering goes online this year.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea (MOLIT) will host the Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference 2020 (GICC 2020) from December 7th to 8th to give all-out support to Korea’s overseas construction.
Marking its eighth anniversary this year, the GICC has been the central platform for networking and collaboration in the infrastructure sector. Since 2013, MOLIT has invited high-level delegations led by ministers or vice ministers for bilateral meetings and arranged programs for Korean E&C companies like Project Seminar and 1:1 Business Meeting to give access to project information and offer opportunities to network with authorities or companies in charge of projects.
Even though the GICC has been a face-to-face event, the conference will take place virtually this year due to COVID-19.
The following are the main programs and features of the GICC 2020.
(Opening Ceremony) The line-up of speakers for the GICC 2020 include two ministers from Uzbekistan and Turkey and three keynote speakers from diverse sectors and backgrounds. The Minister of Construction of Uzbekistan and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey deliver congratulatory remarks while the Director of IHS Markit, a leading American-British information provider, the Director of the MEED(Middle East Economic Digest), and Professor LEE Bok-nam of the Seoul National University will share their insights on key issues such as the status and outlook of global construction industry and impact of COVID-19 on domestic construction market.
(High-level Bilateral Meeting) Minister Kim Hyun-mee, Vice Minister for Infrastructure Yun Sung-won, and Vice Minister for Transport Son Myeong-soo will have bilateral meetings with their counterparts representing 16 ministries from 12 countries to discuss issues of common interest in the infrastructure field.
At the ministerial meeting with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing of Indonesia, a memorandum of understanding will be signed by the two ministers. The MOU, which is an extension of the existing MOU between the two, was expanded to cover comprehensive cooperation on public facility safety management, including experience sharing on public facility management and disaster response.
Promoting Korea’s smart city model will be the focus of the ministerial meetings with Uzbekistan (Ministry of Construction), and the Philippines (Department of Transportation).
With the Minister of National Defense of Colombia, Secretary of Transportation of the Philippines, and the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey and the Minister of Construction of Myanmar, Minister Kim will discuss partnerships on specific projects.
Minister Kim will also meet via video link with the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Poland to support Incheon International Airport Corporation’s participation in the new airport project planned in Warsaw.
(Project Seminar) The Conference will feature an online project seminar during which 50 projects will be presented. Attendees to the seminars include the government agencies and companies in charge of the projects to be introduced at the seminar (Ministry of Construction of Myanmar, National Treasury of Kenya, Private Investment Promotion Agency of Peru), and MDBs(MIGA, AfDB, ADB, AIIB).
(1:1 Business Meeting) GICC 2020 will arrange 90 1:1 business meetings, matching foreign government agencies and companies with Korean companies based on advance survey of the Korean companies’ interest in the projects presented at the project seminar.
Despite the travel restrictions in place due to COVID-19, the networking as well as project information will likely give boost to Korea’s competitiveness.
Sharing the good news of Korea’s reaching $30 billion in the project contracts won by Korean E&C companies, Minister Kim promised to provide all necessary support to keep up with the momentum.
The Minister also added “While the outlook remains uncertain due to COVID-19, low oil prices, the pandemic-induced global recession, I hope the GICC 2020 will mark a turn-around moment for Korea’s overseas cooperation.
The opening ceremony will be live-streamed via YouTube. As for Project Seminar and 1:1 Business Meeting, companies can sign up at the GICC website (www.gicc.kr).