KICT 한국건설기술연구원

KICT held the 2017 Korean Construction Technology Fair in Colombo, Sri Lanka on October 18. The purpose of the briefing was to support the overseas advancement of small, medium, and established enterprises (SMEs) in Korea. As one of the key partner nations for Korea’s official development assistance programs, Sri Lanka has continued active exchanges at the higher official level since the establishment of the present administration.

The briefing was attended by 300 Sri Lankan attendees including the Vice Minister of Highways, the Vice Minister of Environment, the Chairman of the Road Development Authority, and other senior government officials and business leaders. KICT designed the briefing centering on the institute’s leading construction technologies and technologies developed by Korean SMEs. The institute ran a promotional booth and organized business meetings between Korean enterprises and Sri Lankan parties.

KICT has offered a package of multifaceted solutions to help SMEs advance into overseas markets. Its overseas tech briefings were held in Vietnam in 2015 and Cambodia and Myanmar in 2016 and have started producing substantial outcomes. For example, an SME that participated in the 2015 tech briefing in Vietnam achieved annual revenues of KRW 14.3 billion the following year, which was a 30% year-on-year increase.

Sri Lanka is one of Korea’s key partner nations in official development assistance programs. Since the establishment of the present Sri Lankan administration, the two nations have continued active exchanges at the higher official level. In particular, 2017 marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Sri Lanka, and in that sense, the KICT tech briefing held this year attracted even more attention.