Ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games, Los Angeles has made an unusual promise: no new stadiums and no cars. The host city plans to use existing venues instead of building showcase arenas, and to get spectators to events without driving, in what it bills as a green Olympics.
Yet the city preparing a "no-build" Games is covered in construction sites. More than $20 billion in transit projects alone is under way, including subway line extensions and a transfer hub linking the airport to competition venues. Combined with federal infrastructure spending and growing demand for grid capacity driven by the spread of artificial intelligence, that is opening public procurement opportunities for Korean companies.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said on the 21st that it will hold an online briefing on the 28th on strategies for entering public projects tied to the LA Olympics. The session will provide practical guidance based on a KOTRA report, released on Sept. 30, on business strategies for Korean firms amid the 2028 Olympic buildout and the restructuring of U.S. construction and infrastructure supply chains.
According to the report, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been pursuing a "28 by 28" program to complete 28 major public transit projects in the region between November 2017 and the opening of the Games. As of June, only 11 of the 28 projects, or 39%, had been completed, with the remaining 17 still in progress.
Most of the large Olympic-related contracts, however, have already been awarded. Jinny Yang, an expert at the Asia-Pacific consortium PACE, said 80% of LA28 procurement has either been contracted or is proceeding around major suppliers. The remaining 20% is therefore likely to be tendered in subcontracting and niche supply areas such as food and beverage, logistics, cleaning and waste management, security support and temporary facilities. The report accordingly recommended that Korean companies target niche markets by supplying specialized technology and products rather than bidding directly for major construction work.
Beyond the Olympic buildout, the broader U.S. construction market generated $2.244 trillion in spending last year and continues to create steady demand. On top of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which channels a total of $1.2 trillion from 2022 through 2026, the spread of AI data centers is lifting investment demand for transmission networks and battery energy storage systems. Entry barriers include the Buy America domestic procurement rules, California's embodied carbon regulations for building materials and steep tariffs on steel and aluminum.
To clear those hurdles, KOTRA's report recommended securing local production and assembly capacity and focusing on technology niches such as modular construction, building information modeling and digital twins, and power grid equipment. A leading success story is rolling stock maker Woojin Industrial Systems. After setting up a subsidiary and plant in California in 2011, the company built a track record supplying smaller components to transit agencies in states including Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts and Utah. That led to a $220 million contract in May 2024 to refurbish 74 aging heavy rail cars for LA Metro. Localization and a delivery record served as a springboard into large public projects.
The LA Board of Public Works and PACE will speak at the briefing. Steve Kang, president of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, said he hopes Korean companies with strong technology and experience will actively explore the city's public procurement opportunities and expand partnerships with local firms. Lee Keum-ha, head of KOTRA's North America regional headquarters, said the agency will provide active support so that Korean firms' advanced technologies can shine in the U.S. market.