SK Construction Leads ESG Management Together with Partners

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] SK Engineering & Construction announced on the 7th that it signed a business agreement on the 6th at the G-Plant building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with credit rating agencies eCredible and NICE D&B to develop an ‘ESG Evaluation Model for Partners.’

SK Engineering & Construction will develop a customized ESG evaluation model for its partners, Biz Partners. The evaluation criteria will consist of about 50 items reflecting ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) aspects such as carbon emissions, safety and health, employment stability, management stability, accounting transparency, as well as characteristics specific to the construction industry.

The new evaluation model has the advantage of involving credit rating agencies, allowing for objective assessments by external professional institutions. The evaluation method will be composed of 70% document evaluation and 30% on-site inspection. Since the document evaluation is conducted based on data directly collected by the credit rating agencies, it is expected to enhance the credibility of the evaluation while minimizing the workload for Biz Partners in submitting materials.

To develop the customized evaluation model, SK Engineering & Construction will conduct pilot evaluations targeting new Biz Partners. Last month, a pilot test was completed with 10 companies, and about 100 more companies will be evaluated during the first half of this year to complete the evaluation model. From the second half of the year, the model will be gradually applied to existing Biz Partners, and evaluation scores will be reflected when selecting new Biz Partners, actively fostering their ESG management capabilities.

On the same day, SK Engineering & Construction also held a ‘Fair Trade Agreement Ceremony,’ declaring co-growth with Biz Partners through fair trade. The fair trade agreement is a system in which large corporations and partners autonomously agree in advance on detailed measures to prevent unfair trade practices and strengthen mutual competitiveness.

SK Engineering & Construction signed the standard fair trade agreement with Kukyoung G&M, the representative of the excellent Biz Partner council, Eco Partners. At the same time, they pledged to comply with the four major practices established by the Fair Trade Commission, including proper contract conclusion, fair selection of subcontractors, establishment and operation of internal review committees for subcontract transactions, and proper issuance and preservation of documents.

The business agreement and fair trade agreement ceremony were attended by Kyung-il Park, Head of Business Operations at SK Engineering & Construction; Jin-ok Lee, CEO of eCredible; Young-hoon Noh, CEO of NICE D&B; Jae-won Choi, CEO of Kukyoung G&M; and Wooyoung Kim, CEO of Sebo MEC.

Kyung-il Park, Head of Business Operations at SK Engineering & Construction, said, “Current ESG evaluation indicators are difficult to apply to small and medium-sized enterprises, so we decided to develop a new evaluation method with professional institutions. We expect this opportunity to serve as a catalyst for spreading ESG management throughout the construction industry.”