Hyundai Motor Group returns to Middle East to replicate late founder’s success

Late Founder Chung Ju-yung [Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group]

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Group is making a comeback in the Middle East, with hopes to repeat the success achieved by its late Founder Chung Ju-yung.

According to the conglomerate, its Executive Chairman Euisun Chung visited the construction site of an underground tunnel being built by Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

Hyundai E&C is working on a 12.5-kilometer section of an underground tunnel for high-speed and freight trains as part of the Neom City project in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Unlike the typical desert, the area under development is situated in mountainous terrain, demanding high-level technical skills.

Chung’s visit to the site was to witness Saudi Arabia’s transformation under its strategic initiative Vision 2030.

Chung encouraged the company’s employees and local staff, promising the group’s support with a strong sense of responsibility.

The Middle East is where Hyundai laid the foundation for its global expansion in the early 1970s under the strong drive of the late Chairman Chung Ju-yung.

The late chairman led a series of highly successful projects there, including the Jubail port in Saudi Arabia in 1976, often referred to as one of the largest civil engineering projects in the 20th century.

The late chairman’s entrepreneurial spirit is now being carried on by his grandson as Hyundai Motor Group actively seeks business opportunities in the region, leveraging new ventures in the areas of electric vehicles, hydrogen mobility, energy, and advanced plant construction.

The pursuit of opportunities is bearing fruit, with recent contracts won for large-scale advanced plant projects in the Middle East.

Recently, Hyundai E&C and Hyundai Engineering Co. secured the second stage of Saudi Arabia’s Jafura gas processing facility project ordered by the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.