As the domestic construction industry is struggling and shows no sign of reviving, South Korea seems to have decided to look outside the country to overcome difficulties. In particular, the country is moving to beef up its presence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In the latest example, South Korea joined hands with Laos to support the development of a dry port in the land-locked communist country. Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on 15 February, the two countries agreed to jointly implement port development cooperation projects and exchange human resources, such as port experts.
This MOU is another step forward in South Korea’s current support for port cooperation projects, including the establishment of a national logistics transport system and the feasibility study of dry ports. In August last year, the South Korean government also began to establish basic plans for 34 ports nationwide in Vietnam, and, in October, it also signed a MOU on the cooperation of port development between the two countries. With that MOU, South Korea pledged to help Vietnam to study the function of ports by region, direction, and timing of development as well as the design of the port infrastructure.