Global Construction Competitiveness Evaluation in 2016

Korea's domestic construction market and overseas construction order environment are experiencing a decreasing trend, and this trend is expected to continue. Therefore, domestic construction companies are seeking to enter the global construction market. This study analyzes the global construction market and the global competitiveness for global construction companies and provides the results. To this end, this study has developed a model to evaluate the global construction competitiveness level and to evaluated global construction competitiveness in 2016. The evaluation of global construction competitiveness was analyzed based on the competitiveness of construction infrastructure by country, and the evaluation results of competitiveness of construction companies. These assessments were based on 20 detailed international statistics (ENR, Global Insight, Compass, etc.). The evaluation results are as follows. First, in regard to the comprehensive global construction competitiveness by country, America ranked first among 20 countries, followed by China. European countries like Spain, Germany and the Netherlands ranked third to fifth, respectively. Korea ranked sixth, one rank higher than that of the previous year. America and European countries remain strong. Second, in regard to the comprehensive building infrastructure competitiveness by country, America ranked first followed by Germany. Korea ranked twelfth, which is the same rank as that of the previous year. When it comes to stability in the construction market, China ranked first and Korea eighth. For construction systems, Sweden ranked first and Korea thirteenth, and for infrastructure, Japan ranked first and Korea tenth. Third, according to the construction company's capability evaluation by country, America ranked first followed by China. Korea ranked fourth, two ranks higher than that of the previous year because of its building competitiveness (fifth → fourth) and design competitiveness (eleventh → eighth) which has improved. When it comes to building competitiveness, China ranked first and Korea fourth. For design competitiveness, America ranked first and Korea eighth, and for price competitiveness, India ranked first and Korea seventh. However, Korea is still in the middle of the pack rank among the 20 countries considered when it comes to design competitiveness. It is ranked eleventh for design productivity and thirteenth for foreign sales against the total sales (internationalization). Thus, Korea needs to improve technical power and tap into new markets for improved competitiveness, including increased productivity. To do so, more R&D investment is required.