Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. is a major construction company in South Korea. The company was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as the Hyundai Civil Works Company and was a major component of the Hyundai Group. Hyundai Construction and Hyundai Engineering merged in 1999. Hyundai Construction played a major role in the importation of Korean laborers to the Middle East to work on construction projects in the 1970s and 1980s. In the decade following 1975, Hyundai signed their first contract in the region for construction of a shipyard for the Iranian Navy near Bandar-e Abbas. 800,000 Koreans went to work in Saudi Arabia and another 25,000 went to Iran; Hyundai was their largest employer. Under creditors' management with Korea Exchange Bank as the largest creditor, Hyundai Group was split into several entities from 2001 to 2006. As of March 2007, HDEC is the main shareholder of Hyundai Merchant Marine, which is the de facto holding company of Hyundai Group. Hyundai Group and Hyundai Motor Group are both vying to purchase HDEC. In 2011, Hyundai Motor Group became the new owner of Hyundai Eng. & Const., Co., Ltd. Wikipedia