Private role in infrastructure stressed

 “The country needs more investment, but spending the [state] budget alone will not be enough for developing the nation’s infrastructure. We therefore have to open up opportunities for the private sector to invest, which could be in form of joint investment between the private and public sectors, or through concessions, depending on the project.

 “The government will provide the facility to enable the private sector to invest because of the limited budget available for the government to invest on its own,” Prayut said yesterday at a seminar titled “Role of State Enterprises Committee”. 

 During a period in which both the global economy and exports have declined, government spending and investment by state enterprises are the main engines driving Thai economic growth this year, he said.

 However, investment by state enterprises also has to be efficient and carried out in full compliance with the principles of corporate governance, he stressed. 

 The Kingdom has 56 state enterprises with total assets worth Bt12 trillion, revenue of Bt5 trillion and a combined net profit averaging Bt300 billion a year.

 They also send dividends to the Finance Ministry averaging Bt120 billion annually, Deputy Finance Minister Wisut Srisuphan told the seminar.

 Prayut said the government’s policy of setting up a superboard and a holding company to manage state enterprises formed part of an effort to restructure them into efficient entities, manage their investment policy in accordance with corporate governance – and improve their financial results.

 “My policy needs the state enterprises to produce strong financial results. 

They have to generate their income to support their business and also provide benefit and return to the country, rather than require financial support from the government. We hope the seven state enterprises now undergoing financial restructuring will show a strong financial performance as soon as possible,” he explained.

 The state enterprises undergoing this process are Thai Airways International, Islamic Bank of Thailand, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand, the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, the State Railway of Thailand, TOT and CAT Telecom. 

 The process of establishing a superboard is nearing the end of the legal drafting stage.

 The State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) expects the legal draft of the law to be finalised next month.

 The final details will then be submitted to the Cabinet, with the law establishing the new entity targeted to come into effect next January, SEPO director-general Kulit Sombatsiri told the seminar.

 He added that the superboard would have 15 members: five from the political sector, with the prime minister serving as board chairman, plus four ministers; five public servants such as ministerial permanent secretaries; and five experts in various fields.

 Their first two priorities will be to set up a holding company to hold major stakes in state enterprises that are already listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand, and to set out corporate-governance rules for the management and investigation of state enterprises.

 Meanwhile, the SEPO has already completed the final draft of an amendment to the Public-Private Partnership Act, which will increase the maximum investment value per project from Bt1 billion to Bt5 billion.

 This is awaiting Cabinet approval but, when introduced, will speed up investment in state enterprise and government projects, said Kulit.