Thaksin Wants Your Money !

[Buff-horns]

MEGA-PROJECTS: Thailand grand sale

Published on December 15, 2005

Thaksin appeals to foreign diplomatic community to ‘spread the word’ and recruit investors in their home countries. Seldom do countries ask representatives of foreign governments to provide help in the development of their infrastructure, but Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday did just that.

Fresh from his visit to the East Asian Economic Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Thaksin invited 100 ambassadors, diplomats and international agency leaders to Government House to listen to his plans for the future of Thailand.

He urged them to send the message back to their respective governments and private investors and encourage them to bid for a wide range of mega-investment projects.

“I’ve invited you here today to listen to my government’s plans for the future, and to think of how your respective countries and entities can play a key role as a partner in our development efforts,” he said.

“After hearing an outline of the priority areas, I ask you to spread the word to headquarters and private sectors so that they might study the matter in greater detail and determine what mutually beneficial contribution they can make to this endeavour.”

Thaksin’s show was unprecedented in the sense that it is not common for representatives of foreign governments to be asked to provide help for another country’s development.

But Thaksin called the effort an innovative approach, “representing a new competitive process that should yield mutual benefits for all concerned”.

The premier offered abundant opportunities for foreign partners to invest in Bangkok’s mass-transit systems, national logistics and transport infrastructure, water-resource management, electronic government and electronic education, among other areas.

The government has earmarked a combined investment of Bt1.7 trillion for a wide range of mega-projects over five years. These are a hallmarks of the Thaksin government and designed to prop up the economy, which is badly in need of fresh investment to keep the momentum of growth.

By calling for foreign governments and investors to take a slice of the mega-projects, Thaksin has further departed from a domestic-led growth policy and is opening up the country to foreign money and technology.

Ralph Boyce, the US ambassador to Thailand, told The Nation that Thaksin’s approach was interesting and that it was the first time he had heard of such a partnership arrangement.

A lot of details will still have to be worked out amid a tight schedule, he said.

For instance, the government has set a deadline of January 20 next year for interested parties to submit their proposals for the Bangkok Mass Transit Development Plan, covering 10 routes and some 300 kilometres.

The estimated combined investment in mass transit is more than Bt500 billion.

Boyce said the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, the US-Asean Business Council and other US-related networks will be urged to prepare their bids, with emphasis on niche development opportunities such as water-resource management.

He also cited barter trading as a possible component for deals with Thailand.

Pleaw Si-ngern, a columnist from the Thai Post, yesterday criticised Thaksin’s move and said he was auctioning away the country in his attempt to attract foreign capital and foreign brains to take concessions in education, transport, agriculture, technology and other areas.

“Whoever has money or would like to do anything in whatever fashion can send in his proposal. If it is satisfactory or mutually beneficial to both parties, then they can take a part of Thailand to manage or take benefits,” Pleaw said.

Diplomats from Russia, Canada, Australia, Spain, Iran and the Netherlands said they would forward the information to their home offices and the private sector in their countries.

Russia said it would put information on its government websites inviting the private sector to invest in Thailand, while the Netherlands said it would send a mission here to further explore opportunities in greater detail.

Peter J van Haren, chairman of the Joint Foreign Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, said the event was a good start for the government to boost foreign direct investment in Thailand in the next few years.

In the first 11 months of this year, Thailand got applications from foreign investors to invest a total of Bt675 billion, but investment figures would fall to only Bt556 billion if large-scale steel projects worth Bt119 billion from China are not granted promotional privileges.

Overall, foreign direct investment growth is projected to slow to only 11 per cent this year, against the government’s target of 25 per cent growth.

The Nation

[sonnyJ]

First thoughts, sounds like an invitation to join the corruption. If I would hear any of the investments would be directed towards educational system I would be truly pleased. If I would see a plan for sustained educational developement, I would propably suffer overly happy syndrome.

[fanta rood]

Aye sonnyJ you think the same as me too. They first need to invest in education and alot in scietific research

[OldAsiaHand]

The ugly truth is that, among those in power, there is very little real support for improving the education system. General education to any reasonable standard would be the death of the feudal-like social structure under which Thailand has always functioned, and it is that structure that is the lynchpin of power in Thailand for the favored few.

[cdnvic]

This topic is already running in the news section.

/closed

cv