The goal is to strengthen the country's competitiveness and reduce the high dependence of oil through the heavy use of trucks, M.R. Pridiyathorn said at the annual economics seminar held by the Thammasat Economics Association yesterday.
''We are talking with private firms to lease and operate ports at Laem Chabang, Surat Thani and Songkhla. The participation of the private sector will help to create modern distribution centres and reduce the cost of transport down south,'' he said. ''In addition, we will start a pilot project to allow the private sector to operate railways for logistics. The State Railways of Thailand can expand the project in the future, if it is successful.''
M.R. Pridiyathorn said the government would approve investments in new rail tracks linking Rangsit to Chachoengsao and Taling Chan to Nakhon Pathom to help reduce road congestion.
Designs for three new light rail routes and two new extensions to the BTS skytrain would be completed by February, with bidding for contractors opened in March. New water management projects, including reservoirs from the Northern region to the Chao Phraya basin, would also help improve flood prevention and irrigation systems.
''The larger projects may not be completed within one year. But we will start them and leave them for the next government to continue,'' M.R. Pridiyathorn said. He said the government also expected to finalise reforms for the mobile phone sector by the end of the year, including reforms in interconnection charges, access charges and excise taxes.
The aim would be to ensure ''fair treatment'' for all operators, M.R. Pridiyathorn said, adding that the new rules would not violate existing contracts nor affect the income of state-owned TOT Plc and CAT Telecom.
M.R. Pridiyathorn said the government would also move quasi-fiscal spending items to the state budget, rather than keep such items off the national accounts as during the previous government.
'There are examples of bad governance everywhere in the past government's policies. We must correct all of them, otherwise the economy cannot go on efficiently.''
Tarisa Watanagase, the Bank of Thailand governor, played down fears that a stronger baht would undermine exports.
A central bank study showed that every percentage point gain in the baht would reduce exports by 0.1%. But a percentage point increase in income for trading partners would boost exports by 1.44%.
But Dr Tarisa acknowledged that exporters with low import content, such as farm products and labour-intensive sectors such as garments, footwear and furniture, were among the hardest hit by the strong baht.
''It doesn't mean that we can be comfortable with the situation, even though baht trends have not affected overall exports,'' she said, adding that affected businesses needed to look to value-added improvements to boost profit margins.
The surging baht, up 12.8% this year against the dollar, had benefited the economy through lower import costs for oil and raw materials. It has also reduced external debt costs.
The interim government's policy framework aims to improve the efficiency of logistics networks and eliminate corruption that persisted under the Thaksin Shinawatra government, according to M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula, the deputy prime minister and finance minister. Private companies would be offered contracts to operate container terminals and railways to improve the efficiency of water and rail transport networks.
Leave a comment :