[Shin Chao Vietnam - 308] It was near a golf course near Hanoi, Vietnam, where Kim Woo-jung, the late former chairman of Daewoo Group, spent his last years. He spent the rest of his life in Vietnam, working hard to nurture the underdog.
The owner has changed to Vietnamese, but the 'Daewoo Hotel' in central Hanoi is still actively operating under the name of Daewoo. There are quite a few examples of Kim Woo-jung's influence in Vietnam. When he died, all Vietnamese media reported heavily on Kim Woo-jung's life.
When he traveled around the world under the banner of "world management," his eyes remained on Vietnam. In 1996, when Daewoo Group was in its prime before it collapsed, Chairman Kim Woo-joong secured a central land in Hanoi. At that time, the Communist Party chief, who was the first in the Vietnamese country's ranking, asked Chairman Kim Woo-jung to participate in the new city development plan. Unfortunately, Daewoo Group has since been dismantled in the air, but it has not disappeared as much as the land Daewoo Engineering & Construction secured at the time.
After a long time, Daewoo E&C made a new sketch of the land for many years. It's a so-called THT business. It is a new city project that builds luxury apartments in key Hanoi locations and includes government buildings and diplomatic complex commercial facilities. The Korean Embassy is also located in this area. In 1996, Daewoo Engineering & Construction started the business on land secured by Chairman Kim Woo-joong and made tens of billions of won in profits a year. As a result, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which gained confidence in its business in Vietnam, is winning a series of big new city projects in Vietnam.
Recently, Daewoo E&C was approved as an investor in the 'Kienjiang New Town Development Project' in Taibin Province, Vietnam. Kienjiang New Town is a new city with a size of 963,000 square meters in the area of Taibin City, Taibin Province, Vietnam. Luxury residential and commercial facilities are evenly built. A whopping $390 million investment will be made over 10 years starting next year.
Daewoo Engineering & Construction joined hands with local Vietnamese company Green I-Park and Korean small and medium-sized company Zenith to bid for a new city development project in Kienjiang. We are in charge of the business with a 51% stake in the entire business. Taibing Province is a coastal city in northern Vietnam, located 110 km from Hanoi. Since it was designated as a special economic zone in 2018, it has been developing day by day.
Daewoo Engineering & Construction won the project this time, and the success of the THT project was the stepping stone. In 1996, the project on the land won by Chairman Kim Woo-joong not only earned money, but also brought follow-up projects.
After Daewoo Group's aerial decomposition, Daewoo Engineering & Construction has experienced a long period of upheaval. It was acquired by Kumho Group and then went back under the Korea Development Bank, causing several sales operations to fail. Then, it was put in the arms of Jungheung Group through a bid in the sale in 2021. Fortunately, the Jungheung side is steadily engaged in "global management" by taking advantage of Chairman Kim Woo-joong's legacy.
Daewoo Engineering & Construction Chairman Jung Won-joo has visited Vietnam four times from 2022 to this year and created a network by asking for meetings whenever major Vietnamese officials visit Korea. Due to the nature of Vietnam, where politics governs the economy, business is not easy without relations with the Vietnamese government. Relationships are more important for large-scale urban development projects led by the government. Daewoo Engineering & Construction explains that such efforts have been the driving force behind the project.
Based on its achievements in Vietnam, Daewoo E&C is also reviewing development projects in Indonesia, India, Nigeria and Canada. Through this, the plan is to raise the overseas sector to 70% of total sales in the long run.
Kim Woo-joong, who used to run around the world with the 'Daewoo' brand on his back, is no longer in the world. Few companies that used to operate under the Daewoo name still maintain the Daewoo brand. Former Daewoo International, which had been named Daewoo until relatively recently, is now POSCO International, and Daewoo Securities, which was a talent in the securities industry, has joined Mirae Asset Securities. Not long ago, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering also changed its sign to Hanwha Ocean in Hanwha's arms.
This is why it is interesting to see Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which is almost the only one maintaining the "Daewoo" brand, attempt to manage the world by sowing seeds on the land left by Chairman Kim Woo-joong. Will Daewoo Engineering & Construction be able to recreate the glamorous days of Daewoo in the past?
