Thailand Aims To Boost Private Sector Role In Stimulus Program
BANGKOK -(Dow Jones)- The Thai government is targeting a bigger role for the
private sector in boosting economic growth, raising the value of projects it
expects to finance in partnership with private investors to 10% of its THB1.43
trillion ($43.07 billion) investment budget from the currently planned 2%, a
senior finance ministry official said Wednesday.
To facilitate such Public-Private Partnership, or PPP, projects, the
ministry's Public Debt Management Office and the Department of Comptroller
General are drafting a new Act to set a comprehensive institutional and
regulatory framework, a methodology for project evaluation, and clear guidelines
for the procurement process--all currently lacking, the head of the Comptroller
General's Department, Pongpanu Svetarundra, told a forum on PPP.
As the new law could take years to pass, the ministry is drafting guidelines
on such partnerships based on existing legislations, including the procedures
that participating private investors must follow, he said.
"The guidelines are expected to be activated very soon," Pongpanu said,
without providing a specific time frame.
Mass transit and road projects are among the first that will be launched under
the new guidelines, he said.
Of the THB1.43 trillion investment budget in a stimulus program that runs
between 2009 and 2012, THB145 billion is expected to be financed via PPP while
the remainder will come from the government's budget, state borrowing and
retained earnings of state enterprises, said Pongpanu.
Of the projects to be undertaken by PPPs, some THB57 billion worth will likely
be in industries that the private sector will find highly feasible to
participate in, such as energy, telecom, and air transportation; THB45 billion
worth of projects will require some form of support or subsidy from the
government, such as mass transit, road, and rail; and the remainder will be on
projects that aren't feasible for private sector investment such as public
health, water resources, and education, he said.
-By Phisanu Phromchanya, Dow Jones Newswires; 662-266-0744;
phisanu.phromchanya@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-18-090226ET
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