Korea’s infrastructure minister will seek to revive the stalled Thai water project during his visit to Bangkok that kicked off on Sunday, Seoul officials said.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Minister Seo Seung-hwan is in Bangkok on a two-day trip, aimed at discussing infrastructure projects promoted by the Thai government.

“Discussion on bilateral economic cooperation will cover infrastructure projects, including the suspended multibillion dollar Thai water management projects,” a ministry official said.

Last February, a Korean consortium, led by state-run water management firm K-water, was named as the preferred bidder for two of 10 Thai water management projects worth 11 trillion won. The total value of the two projects it won was estimated at 6.2 trillion won ($6.1 billion).

The projects, however, were suspended without announcing the final winners in May when the Thai military seized power in a coup and delayed the bid for reassessment. 

Since then, K-water and Korean subcontractors have made all-out efforts to put the stalled projects on track.

The builders in the consortium included Hyundai Engineering and Construction, GS E&C, Daewoo E&C, Daelim and Samwhan.

As the suspension of the water projects has been prolonged, the Korean government and the consortium have jointly pushed to revive the projects.

The latest government-level effort was made during the summit between President Park Geun-hye and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, which was held on the sidelines of the 2014 Korea-ASEAN Summit in Busan last December.

President Park raised hopes for the Korean consortium to join the upcoming Thai water management projects. Her Thai counterpart responded by inviting Korean investors to consider an array of development projects in Thailand, ranging from railways to information technology infrastructure.

“The land minister’s visit to Thailand is aimed at following up the agenda discussed during the Korea-ASEAN summit,” another ministry official said.

Industry watchers said there was no legal requirement for the new Thai government to offer the same status as before to the Korean consortium when it restores Thai water projects that were suspended, as the bid was halted midway.

However, they projected a positive outlook for Korea’s participation in the renewed water projects, considering global standards in international bidding processes.

Along with the Korean consortium, Swiss and Chinese consortiums, who were selected as the preferred bidder for other eight water management projects in the same bid last year, have allegedly made the same request to the new Thai government.

In a related development, Seo will invite the Thai prime minister to the World Water Forum to be held in Daegu from April 12-17 to raise his understanding of Korea’s advanced water management systems, the ministry said.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)