Thailand proceeds with "Rubber City" project

BANGKOK, March 10 (TNA) - The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), under the Ministry of Industry, has concluded a contract for the construction of a "Rubber City" in Songkhla Province in the Thai Far South, set to be completed in 2018 to serve international investors. IEAT Governor Veerapong Chaiperm told journalists that IEAT signed the contract with Boonchai Panich (1979) Co in Bangkok on March 10 for the latter's construction of the 1.45-billion baht-Rubber City in the Southern Region Industrial Estate in Songkhla, aimed at supporting the growing local rubber industry. Veerapong acknowledged that the private contractor is to present its construction plan within seven days, while IEAT will deliver the 755-rai construction site to the contractor after the construction plan is approved and the construction period is set for 720 days. According to the IEAT chief, his agency will also soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with partners to attract industrialists to the "Rubber City" and to provide financial support to them, including Prince of Songkla University, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM-Bank) and the Rubber Authority of Thailand. The IEAT chief said he expected business operators would come in and start their factory construction there in September 2016 and their plants should be opened by July next year, as the installation of public utilities there should begin later this month and finish by March 2018. The IEAT chief foresaw that the business operators should help promote rubber innovation and comprehensive rubber businesses, and that there should be 70 factories, worth 8 billion baht, in the Rubber City in Songkhla within five years. (TNA)