Sepo seeks PPP nod for medical hub

The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) will push a medical complex with investment value of 10 billion baht in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district to proceed under a public-private joint investment scheme.

The project is among Sepo’s priorities seeking approval from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Committee and will emerge as the first PPP social infrastructure project if receiving the nod, said directorgeneral Prapas Kong-Ied.

A time-consuming process will result if the annual state budget is the only funding source for the project, he said.

The plan for the medical complex must be forwarded to the new cabinet after winning the PPP Committee’s green light, he said without revealing the complex’s name.

The PPP scheme has many aspects, but most projects involve transport infrastructure such as the high-speed railway to connect three airports.

The State Railway of Thailand in March entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Public Health Ministry’s Department of Medical Services to lease 15 rai in Chatuchak district for 34 years to develop the DMS Medical Complex, which will encompass a 500-bed facility and a commercial area.

The five-year PPP plan through 2021 initiated by the military-led Prayut Chano-cha government classified PPP projects into two groups: ones in which the private sector deserves to participate and another in which the government encourages the private sector to take part.

PPP projects in which the private sector deserves to participate consist of public railway system development in cities, tollways in cities, ports for goods transport and high-speed rail. Those in which the government encourages the private sector to take part include telecom networks and high-speed internet development.

Projects related to public railway development in cities and high-speed internet system development are state priorities. The government has estimated that PPP under the five-year plan would have a total investment value of 1.62 trillion baht.