Korea is preparing to enter a Thai tender for an integrated water management project for 25 rivers aimed at averting future floods like the ones that devastated Thailand last year.

The W13-trillion (US$1=W1,142) project was expected to be assigned to Japanese or Chinese bidders, but the Thai government decided on an open tender and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has taken an interest in Korea's four-rivers project, opening the field for Korean bidders.

According to government officials in Korea, the foreign and science ministries of Thailand invited some 130 officials from embassies, international organizations and chambers of commerce on July 6 and announced the tender for a sustainable water management system and infrastructure to prevent floods. It will hold an information session on July 24 and reveal more details.

The winner will be announced in about three months' time. After sustained torrential rains since August last year, Thailand saw over 70 percent of its land flooded.

The floods resulted in over 400 deaths and W18 trillion of financial damage. The Thai government in December last year pledged to invest US$11.6 billion in a mid- and long-term water management system for 25 rivers that stretch over 6,000km. This year, it has allocated $420 million to repair flood damage.