Cabinet backs highways for Thailand Future Fund
THE CABINET yesterday backed a decision to include projects from the Department of Highways (DOH) and Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) in the Thailand Future Fund (TFF).
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said two highway projects and one from EXAT, which the Transport Minister proposed be added to the Bt100 billion TFF, included Highway No 7 from Bangkok to Ban Chang, Highway No 9 and Bangkok’s Outer Ring Road.
The Transport and Finance ministries along with the Council of State will expedite the setting up of legal and regulatory codes so such infrastructure projects can be included in the fund.
The Finance Ministry, which will be the sole state investor in this close-ended mutual fund, will invest Bt1 billion of its Bt10 billion initial investment to instantly establish the fund.
The TFF will then raise capital from the public, which will help ease budget constraints and manage the country’s public debts properly, Apisak said.
Ekniti Nitithanprapas, head of the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO), said a committee set up to oversee the fund agreed that Krungthai Asset Management Plc and MFC Asset Management Plc would act as fund managers for the initial period.
The fund should be ready within this month, he said.
He said the committee was in the process of procuring a team of advisers in financial and legal issues so the inclusion of other infrastructure projects in the TFF coud be finalised by December.
Meanwhile, Kobsak Phutrakul, a vice minister for finance, said fund investors will get a guaranteed return of 2-3 per cent per annum as the government aims to use proceeds to invest in new and existing infrastructure projects that will help boost the country’s international competitiveness.
According to the government’s investment programme, there are about 20 infrastructure schemes worth a combined Bt1.79 trillion to be implemented during the period from 2015-2017.
