CoST help sought to set standards for procurement

“We are in talks with CoST on how to set a standard for state enterprises’ procurement procedures,” Kulit Sombatsiri, director-general of Sepo, said yesterday.
More discussions on the details will be held with CoST’s representatives at the office today.
The move came after the junta launched the strategic development plan for 56 state enterprises as part of key factors driving the economy. Many mega-investment projects – especially transport-related projects that were approved for development, costing Bt2.4 trillion over eight years – are now lining up.
Besides, there will be other projects related to telecommunications and public transport.
“In response to a number of mega-investment projects, we are now talking about how to invest in them transparently and efficiently,” he said.
If Sepo comes up with CoST’s programme, the procurement standard would be instituted as soon as possible, perhaps in the fiscal 2015 budget.

Promoting transparency
CoST is a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing government, the private sector and civil society together with the aim of promoting transparency and accountability in the construction industry.
CoST, which is supported by the World Bank, started in May 2008 to tackle some of the problems endemic to public construction across the world – overcharging, excessive delays, low standards and theft. Vietnam, Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, the Philippines, the UK and Tanzania are piloting CoST.
Recently, the State Enterprise Policy Commission or “Superboard”, which oversees all 56 state enterprises’ performances and set their directions, held its second meeting two weeks ago with Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha as its chairman.
Four out of the seven selected enterprises with the deepest financial trouble were picked to propose their business plans to the board for consideration. However, the business plans from CAT, TOT, the Islamic Bank and SME Bank were rejected. The plans would have to be studied more and then resubmitted to the board in the next three months.
However, Kulit, as secretary of the Superboard, said all four final drafts of business plans had passed and now were in the due diligence process so that their financial health could be known before setting a long-term strategic business direction to put them on the right track.
As for the State Railway of Thailand, Kulit has been informed that the final draft of its plan has already been submitted to Soithip Trisuddhi, permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry.