The global construction market will likely start to snap back from a prolonged slump during the second half of this year, a local think tank said Thursday.

   "The overseas construction market has been sluggish for years since the global financial crisis in 2008, but it is expected to rebound in the second half or in the first half of next year," said the Construction Economy Research Institute of Korea (CERIK).

   The world construction sector has shrank over the 2009-2010 period but will grow an average of 3 to 4 percent annually until 2020 after a rebound in the latter half, CERIK said, citing reports by overseas market trackers Global Insight and Oxford Economics.

   According to the report, global construction investment is forecast to rise 50 percent to US$10.2 trillion in 2020 from $6.8 trillion in 2010.

   Asia's construction market is predicted to show the biggest growth, as its world share is expected to jump to 43.7 percent in 2020 from 38 percent in 2010.

   But South Korean builders accounted for only 10 percent of the current Asian market, compared with China's 45.2 percent and India's 17.4 percent, according to CERIK.

   CERIK called on local builders to tap deeper into the global construction market in order to tide over their current difficulties stemming from a persistent slump in the domestic market.

"The domestic construction market has been in a deep slump, but the global market will continue to expand. Korean builders need to advance abroad," said Yoo Wi-seong, a researcher at CERIK.

Source: Yonhap News (July 21, 2011)