Korea’s top landscaping firm Dawon to expand in SE Asia

South Korea’s Dawon Landscape & Construction Co. aims to expand its business in Southeast Asia as it beat out major domestic builders such as Samsung C&T Corp. in this year's evaluation by construction and specialty contractor associations. Dawon topped the 2024 construction capability assessment list in the landscaping planting and structure sector, which comprehensively evaluates construction performance, management status and technological competitiveness, according to the Construction Association of Korea and the Korea Specialty Contractors Association.Samsung C&T, the country’s largest builder, and HDC Labs Co., a unit of local major construction conglomerate HDC Holdings Co., ranked second and third, respectively, in the evaluation of 1,420 general builders and 7,386 landscaping construction firms.Dawon bagged 191.2 billion won ($140 million) in local planting project orders in 2023, up nearly 30% from the previous year, despite the downturn in the domestic construction business amid the sluggish property market. The order value was also the largest among those won by domestic builders. The company is poised to expand its business in Southeast Asia based on its technology and landscaping capabilities.GROWTH POTENTIAL“Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines are emerging markets with enormous growth potential, and it is difficult to predict how much they can explode, as many people in the region are even unfamiliar with landscaping,” said Dawon CEO Kim Dae Joong.“We aim to eventually improve the quality of housing worldwide through the global total landscaping service.”Dawon proved its capabilities through a project for The Sharp Clark Hills in Mabalacat, Pampanga, the Philippines residential complex built by South Korean builder POSCO E&C Co.The Sharp Clark Hills became a landmark in Mabalacat thanks to its distinguished landscaping, which regional government officials showed off to honored guests, according to a Dawon executive in Seoul. BEYOND LANDSCAPINGThe company is set to expand its business beyond landscaping in the Philippines with its know-how accumulated by the CEO along with Vice President Kim Sunyong in the last six years there.Dawon said it plans to build a luxury resort in the country, a top tourist destination in Southeast Asia while discussing its operation with global major hotel brands.The country’s tourism and hotel industry, a significant contributor to the local economy, was forecast to grow to $3.4 billion by 2029 from an estimated $2.8 billion this year, according to analysis firm Mordor Intelligence.Dawon, which is seeking regulatory approval after buying land, said it has selected KPMG, which has handled luxury resort developments worldwide, as a project manager.Dawon has teamed up with Gansam Co., a South Korean architecture firm specializing in hotels, resorts and clubhouses, as well as ROGAeng, a golf course designer that designed popular courses in the country such as those at the Seong Mun Ahn Country Club.Dawon is also working with Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos, the Philippines’ leading corporate and commercial law firm, and Lee & Ko, one of South Korea’s top three law firms.SALES JUMP BY OVER SEVEN TIMESDawon, founded in 1992, long dominated the South Korean industry of working to restore the environment by planting in terrain damaged by civil engineering works such as roads and dams.The company started the landscaping business as a new growth engine in 2017 as it lost momentum with the government cutting infrastructure spending. Kim, son of founder and Chairman Kim Yongkak, joined the company in 2016, to take over the helm of the business. In his first six months, he concentrated on the analysis of the industry and sites and then sought to bag orders from existing clients through the company's competitiveness accumulated in 25 years from the land recovery business.“We did our utmost to secure the buying power based on economies of scale rather than seeking immediate profits,” he said.Such efforts paid off with its sales soaring to a record 207.4 billion won last year, more than seven times the 29.3 billion won in 2016. The company enjoyed an all-time high operating profit of 6.5 billion won in 2023, compared with the 300 million won loss seven years ago. EXPANSIONDawon has expanded its landscaping business into the design, structure production and maintenance of other types of construction projects.The company applied famous intellectual property from children's content such as Baby Shark, a global-hit character created by South Korean entertainment company The Pinkfong Company Inc., and Robocar Poli, a local 3D animated children’s television series created by Roi Visual Co., to its design of playgrounds for residential complexes.The strategy allowed Dawon to rapidly expand its presence in the playground sector with high entry barriers, the company said. Dawon has landscaped more than 300 sites in South Korea including residential complexes in Seoul’s upscale, trendy, and affluent Gangnam district.By Hyung-Chang Choi and Gyeong-Jin Mincalling@hankyung.com Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.