A CONTINGENT of at least 11 South Korean companies is expected to mark a strong presence in Dubai next month at the Big 5 PMV.

Arriving in higher numbers than in previous years, the Koreans are encouraged by the large number of projects that are currently under way across the region, despite the global economic slowdown.
In addition, thriving trade relations between the UAE and South Korea and growing signs of recovery in the Middle East construction industry is drawing many South Korean building machinery giants to target the region for business growth.
“Dubai is a strategic location for our member companies,” says Seung-cheol Lee of the strategy and planning team at Korea Construction Equipment Manufacturing Association (Kocema). “Taking part in the Big 5 PMV offers our members unique opportunities to meet with buyers and dealers, not only from the Middle East but also from Africa, Russia and India.”
Among these companies is Power Technology and Quality Company (Poqutec), one of South Korea’s leading manufacturers of heavy construction machinery, which has just forecast Middle East sales of $4 million for next year.
Poqutec is using the event to look for exclusive dealers for its wide range of heavy construction machinery, including hydraulic hammers, rock breakers, crushers and hammers. “We’re already active in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, and our expected sales volume for the region in 2010 is $4 million,” says Min Seok Song, the company’s managing director.
He will launch Poqutec’s PBS 210 – II hydraulic breaker and pedestal boom breaker at the Big 5 PMV, where the South Korean presence will be reinforced by MSB Corporation, C&OH Corporation, Dahil Corporation, Original Korea Technology Company, Jab Company, Kukje Hydraulic Company, Sewoo Metal Industrial and Torpedo TNA Company.
“We’ve noticed a more optimistic mood from the construction industry in general, as underlined by the response from our South Korean exhibitors which reflects the strong links between the two countries,” says Nick Webb, director of Streamline Marketing Group, organiser of the Big 5 PMV.
The UAE is the second largest oil and natural gas exporter to South Korea and South Korean construction firms have played a key role in the UAE’s industrial infrastructure development. The countries have been strengthening their relationship in recent months with the signing of a bilateral nuclear agreement, opening doors for South Korea to enter a competitive $40 billion bid to build the UAE’s first nuclear plant. The project is one of the largest such deals in the sector and signals South Korea’s first nuclear agreement with a country in the Middle East.