Korea aims to export method for four-river project to Thailand

Government-led consortium will join race to participate in Thailand’s water management project


A government-led consortium plans to jump into an international bidding war to participate in a large-scale water management project in Thailand, which Seoul officials say could become the first case of exporting Korea’s own four-river restoration project.

The Ministry of Land, Transportation and Maritime Affairs said Wednesday the consortium, named “Dream Team,” will join the first-round bidding to participate in building the conceptual plan of the Thai project, for which bidding is set to open late this month.

Thailand, hit hard by a devastating flood last year, has carried out a comprehensive plan to better control the nation’s 25 major rivers, including the Chao Praya River in Bangkok, and neighboring areas.

With powerful competitors like China, Japan and the Netherlands planning to join the race for the 12.4 trillion won project, Korea pins high hopes on its own experience of refurbishing the nation’s four major rivers over the past four years.

“Korea is the only nation to have carried out such a large-scale river project in a short-term period. The government will actively support the bidding efforts that could be the first export case of the four-river project,” said a ministry official.

The consortium consists of Korea Water Resources Corp. and six leading builders that participated in the four-river project such as Hyundai Engineering & Construction, GS Engineering & Construction, Samsung Construction & Trade Corp. and Daewoo Engineering and Construction.

The Thai government plans to select the first group of consortia qualified to submit conceptual plans in September and then accept their proposals in December. Based on the final plan selected, it will select contractors of each section of the project.

According to a tentative plan, the Korean consortium will build a dam in the upper stream of the Chao Praya River to produce electricity, while improving water flow in the middle and bottom parts of the river through dredging and other construction work.

“Winning the first bidding is essential in order to gain benefits for the final construction project,” said another ministry official.

As part of efforts to support the consortium, Land Minister Kwon Do-youp is scheduled to hold a ministerial meeting in Thailand on Aug. 13 to discuss the river project as well as the ongoing bullet train project in the nation.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)