Korea Rail Network Authority has announced the signature of a bilateral cooperation agreement with the Korea Expressway Corporation on March 31, 2020. Under the agreement, both companies will jointly develop overseas railway-road projects and cooperate in large-scale public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

The cooperation agreement will support Korean companies that want to participate in overseas PPP markets. Both organizations will help the companies to win tenders by utilizing combined experience, capabilities, and R&D in the transport sectors.

The agreement lays the foundation of cooperation between Korean organizations which is needed to win overseas infrastructure megaprojects such as road-rail complex projects and capital relocation projects.

King Hamad Causeway Railway-Road Complex PPP Project will be the first overseas cooperation project for both organizations. The 25 km railway-road causeway project is designed to connect Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and is estimated to cost approximately USD 3.5 billion. Korea Rail Network Authority is conducting a feasibility study with the support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korean consulting companies.

Korea Highway Corp. has the capacity to operate and maintain highways and it has been bidding in various overseas road operte and maintain PPP projects.

A representative of Korea Highway Corp said: “We will do our best to create a base for global orders based on the experience of building and maintaining operations of the two organizations, and to help local companies make inroads into overseas markets."