WORLD ORDER

State development projects valued at more than 5 billion baht will be required to open up for international bids.

State development projects valued at more than 5 billion baht will be required to open up for international bids to ensure transparency and competitiveness.

A mini-cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday approved the proposal and told the Comptroller-General’s Department, the Finance Ministry, the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the Budget Bureau to finalise details by this Friday and send the proposal to the cabinet for vetting next week.

Ampon Kittiampon, an adviser to the prime minister, said international bidding will be applicable to projects that need high technology.

“The government and state enterprises will invest heavily this year in infrastructure projects, and the new regime will make state procurement more transparent to reduce corruption and save the fiscal budget,” Mr Ampon said.

Public investment is expected to become more active this year. A NESDB report puts the 2016 transport infrastructure action plan (urgent phase) at 20 priority projects with a total investment value of 1.4 trillion baht that will continue to be implemented this year.

Of the 20 projects, four have started construction with a total investment value of 45 billion baht, while 11 projects are in the bidding process with total investment value of 533 billion.

Two projects with total investment value of 247 billion baht have been proposed to the cabinet and the Public-Private Partnership committee, and two other projects are under negotiation and preparation.

The 2017 transport infrastructure action plan includes 36 priority projects with total investment value of 896 billion baht.

Five projects are expected to start construction in the first half this year with total investment of 54.8 billion baht, while 15 are in the procurement stage with total investment of 469 billion.

The Eastern Economic Corridor development plan (2017-21) calls for 48 projects with investment value of 6.99 billion baht.

He said a normal bidding process will be applied to state development projects with an investment cost of fewer than 1 billion baht, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) allowed to join the bids.

The Comptroller-General’s Department is also required to prepare SME-friendly criteria for the bids to encourage small businesses to join.