Builders on their way to record bids for 2007

Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. and other Korean builders won 71 percent more contracts overseas in the first quarter, spurred on by demand from the Middle East.
Orders swelled to $9.2 billion from $5.4 billion a year earlier, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said in a statement yesterday. Almost a third came from the United Arab Emirates for work on power and gas projects.
Oil prices more than doubled in the last five years, helping the Persian Gulf region and North Africa increase per capita economic output last year at the fastest pace in the last two decades, according to the World Bank.
“Many Middle Eastern countries are focusing on building their economies by developing economic free zones to attract more businesses,” the ministry said.
The surge in contracts means Korea is about halfway to reaching a December forecast by the ministry for a record $18 billion in overseas orders this year.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard, received orders valued at $1.8 billion from Kuwait and India in the first quarter, the ministry said.