State Enterprises Set To Play Key Role In Driving Economy

State enterprises set to play key role in driving economy

BANGKOK: -- The State Enterprises Policy Office is set to come up with short- and medium-term schemes to upgrade state enterprises into main organizations to drive the country’s economy.

Areepong Poocha-um, director-general of the office, revealed the short-term scheme is to accelerate disbursing 330 billion baht of investment budget for fiscal 2008, which could help boost the gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.6 per cent, and develop specialised financial institutions such as the Government Savings Bank, Government Housings Bank, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, and SME Development Bank, into key mechanisms to stimulate the economy.

The institutions set a target to extend a combined loan amount of 771.5 billion baht for this year.

Other measures include a support for the capital market development, improvement of good governance of state enterprises to boost efficiency and good images.

The medium-term scheme is to revitalise financial ailing state enterprises such as Bangkok Mass Transit Organisation, State Railway of Thailand, National Housing Authority. Now, the three enterprises have accumulated losses of up to 96.09 billion baht.

Other measures include systemising a subsidy for public services by the state enterprises and replacing the State Enterprise Capital Act B.E. 2542 with the Act on Conditions and Criteria on State Enterprise Privatisation.

“The estimated investment by state enterprises in a decade (2006-2015) totals 3.6-4 trillion baht. So, to ease the country’s public debt burdens, we have considered new choices of capital sources regardless of the securitisation and enhancement of private-sector role in state enterprises,” he said.

At present, there are 58 state enterprises under the supervision of the State Enterprises Policy Office. Last year, they had total assets of around 6.61 trillion baht and liabilities of 4.99 trillion baht with combined profits of 190.8 billion baht.

--TNA 2008-04-11