Doubts about whether Thailand’s $12 billion water-related project will proceed as planned are rising among Korean builders.The Thai government is scheduled to select preferred bidders for the nine project modules on Tuesday, but Korean participating firms believe that the announcement will be delayed without a fixed deadline due to differences over price. “We expect the announcement to be made around June 11, but we haven’t received any official notice from the Thai government on the adjusted ti

Water is one of the essential resources for the economic growth of a country. It contributes to food production, industry supply and the health and welfare of the people.This is why Korea has continuously invested in water-related infrastructure, including multipurpose dams and water treatment systems, since the beginning stages of the nation’s economic development in the 1960s.  Water resource development history in Korea The primary objective of the development of water resources, therefore, i

The government’s decision to cut its budget for infrastructure construction by 11.6 trillion won ($10.3 billion) for the next four years is prompting concerns that it would aggravate financial woes facing some builders and their creditor banks.Under the plan, the budget for road construction projects will drop the most, with a 4.5 trillion won ($4.billion) reduction, followed by railroads with a 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) cut. The cuts for infrastructure make up about 13.8 percent of the over

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday it has intensified inspections and quarantines on U.S. wheat as some genetically modified wheat was recently found at a farm in Oregon. U.S. authorities said the genetically engineered wheat found in Oregon was of the type developed by Monsanto to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup. It added that the wheat was not harmful to public health, but was not approved for commercial use. “We are investigating into not only U.S. wheat imp

The government decided to reduce the electricity consumption of its offices and public organizations during peak hours by at least 20 percent.It also plans to control the use of electric power by such heavy consumers as conglomerates which use more than 5,000 kilowatts.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced these and others measures to reduce electricity consumption in the summer amid rising concerns of a power outage in the wake of the recent shutdown of two more nuclear reactors.

Conglomerates that use huge amounts of electricity to manufacture goods are likely to see a threefold rise in their electricity bills for some periods this summer.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is considering the expansion of its “critical peak pricing” program to big companies in a bid to manage power demand. The program already covers small companies and households.Under the CPP program, applicants will be charged higher electricity tariffs during peak hours (usually 3 to 5 p.m.) o

The power shortage issue, triggered by the suspension of two nuclear reactors Tuesday due to the use of substandard components, is turning into a key national agenda as the country is expected to face the worst-ever summer electricity shortage this year.The sudden shutdown of the Shin-Kori Reactor 2 in Busan and Shin-Wolsong Reactor 1 in North Gyeongsang Province brings the number of nuclear reactors out of action to 11, which raises a severe power shortage issue. Korea currently runs 23 reactor

Korean builders started full-scale construction on nuclear power plant unit 2 in Barakah, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. The construction is part of the nation’s first nuclear power plant export deal, which was sealed in 2009. Under the deal worth 21 trillion won ($19 billion), Korea will build four reactors in Barakah by 2020. Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick and other VIPs from the UAE side, including Minister for Presidenti

The nation’s 16 casinos exclusive to non-Koreans are enjoying a business boom, marking record-high sales reaching 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion) last year, according to the National Gambling Control Commission. Behind the growth of the casino business is the increased inflow of Chinese visitors. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday, the number of Chinese gamblers visiting Korean casinos surpassed that of Japanese high-rollers for the first time last year, making up

The state-run Korea Trade Insurance Corp., known as K-sure, and Korea Export-Import Bank will offer $1.5 billion in loans to the “Sabine Pass” liquefied natural gas project in the U.S., K-sure said on Monday.The LNG project refers to the LNG-related facility expansion project at Sabine Pass in the state of Louisiana, which will allow the U.S. to export LNG for the first time in its history. The U.S. government has stepped up lifting a ban on LNG exports in line with the rising supply of natural

The total debt of local governments and the public companies under their roofs is likely to exceed 100 trillion won ($890 billion) in 2012, according to officials of the Ministry of Security and Public Administration. Local autonomous governments include provinces, metropolitan cities, cities, counties and districts.The ministry sources said the debt of local governments is forecast to reach 40 trillion won ($36 billion) last year, while that of local public companies is likely to near at 70 tri

Yoo Byung-kyu, 53, a senior economist at the Hyundai Researcher Institute, will join the National Economic Advisory Council to President Park Geun-hye and lead the council’s support division, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.The main responsibilities of the macro-economist will include developing the council’s agenda, preparation for council meetings and implementing follow-up measures, the ministry said. The 30-member council’s general meeting is convened on the president’s req

Daewoo International, a trading arm of POSCO, said Thursday it would start sales of natural gas, which will be produced from June in its two offshore gas blocks in Myanmar, to China. The company has explored natural gas in the A1 and A3 offshore blocks, Kyauk Phyu, Myanmar, since 2000 with a 51 percent stake. The produced gas will be sold to the China National Petroleum Corporation and the gas will be transferred to inland China from Myanmar through a 800km-long pipeline, which will be completed

Korea will implement packages in a new incentive program to encourage multinational companies to establish their Asian headquarters in the nation during the second half of this year, officials said Thursday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy revealed the plan after holding a meeting to discuss boosting foreign direct investment among officials from 17 state-run FDI-related organizations and 17 local governments. “Previously, the government simply offered a cash reward to multinationals t

The government will push deregulation to attract more service firms to the nation’s free economic zones, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The ministry’s foreign direct investment policy had previously focused on luring manufacturing companies.“The service industries that FEZs will target for attraction include medical services, education, conferences and exhibitions, R&D and professional services, and business-support services,” MOTIE Vice Minister Kim Jae-hong said in a

About 350 executives of POSCO and its affiliates adopted a resolution on ethical behavior on Wednesday at a workshop in Songdo, Incheon, the company said. The move came after an executive from POSCO Energy, a key affiliate of the nation’s top steelmaker, resigned amid public anger over his mistreatment of a flight attendant last month. During the workshop, POSCO chairman Chung Joon-yang reportedly stressed the importance of good ethics to recover trust from employees and people, saying trust was

The government has begun in earnest to commercialize “graphene,” a new advanced material, announcing Tuesday six consortiums to lead material-related research and development projects.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the commercialization of the material could spawn ultra-thin but strong electronics goods, such as paper-thin and flexible TV screens. Graphene, thin sheets of carbon, was discovered in 2004, rocking the science industry. The world’s thinnest and strongest nano-materi

Korea launched a four-day educational program on forest-related polices for a group of Indonesian policymakers from May 20-24, according to the Korea Forest Service.“About 15 officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and Perum Perhutani, an organization given a mandate by the Indonesian government to manage forests in Java and Madura, joined the program,” the KFS said. The program includes field trips and a variety of lectures on forest policy, including the nation’s reforestation and f

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. will join Vietnam’s underground oil storage facility construction project, company officials said. “KNOC has decided to join the project to build an underground facility to store up to 3.8 million barrels of oil in Dung Quat, Vietnam, in cooperation with Vietnam-based PVOS,” the officials said, adding that the project would be KNOC’s first oil storage project overseas. Petro Vietnam Oil Stockpile embarked on the project to accommodate the needs of the oil a

Despite the planned resumption of construction for 52 high-voltage transmission cable towers in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, next week, Korea is highly likely to again face power shortages this summer and winter, according to industry watchers. The construction, which is essential to transmit and distribute power generated from the newly-built unit 3 of the Shin Gori nuclear power plant to the North Gyeongsang Province region, has been suspended since January this year when a farmer in hi