State enterprise staff worried
Members of the State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard have attempted to allay concerns of state enterprise employees by insisting a draft bill on supervision and management is not aimed at privatisation.
Section 52 of the draft bill prohibits a soon-to-be-established holding company from lowering its stake in state enterprises to the same level as in non-state enterprises without cabinet approval, superboard member Prasarn Trairatvorakul said.
His comment came after state enterprise staff expressed concerns at a public hearing yesterday that the proposed law had a hidden agenda of privatisation.
They raised their doubts even though Section 13(2) of the draft bill would authorise the superboard to merge, close or spin off any state enterprises only if such action won the cabinet’s nod.
Moreover, they pointed out the holding firm would not be subject to the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act of 2000.
Mr Prasarn, who is a former Bank of Thailand governor, said it was impossible to state unequivocally that state enterprises would never be privatised since no one could predict the future.
What the draft does do is ensure that any privatisation would require cabinet approval, he said.
An integral part of the draft bill is setting up a holding firm to own and supervise the 12 corporatised state enterprises while allowing the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) to continue supervising the other 45 state enterprises.
The move is part of efforts by the superboard, which is chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, to prevent political interference, ensure management transparency and enhance efficiency in state enterprises.
The 12 corporatised state enterprises include PTT, Krungthai Bank, TOT, CAT Telecom, MCOT, Thai Airways International, Airports of Thailand and the State Railway of Thailand.
The 12 have combined assets of 6 trillion baht.
Superboard member Banyong Pongpanich said clearly barring state enterprises from privatisation could lead to problems in the future.
He gave PTT Exploration and Production Plc as an example.
The national petroleum explorer would be unable to keep expanding at the same rate as in recent years if it did not go public, Mr Banyong said.
Sepo director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas said his agency would consider all opinions from the public hearing before forwarding the draft bill for cabinet approval.
The bill is expected to go to the cabinet next month and take effect in August.