Thai government to proceed with water management and rail projects

BANGKOK, January 24 (TNA) - The Thai government is moving ahead with its new mega investment projects on infrastructure development, namely those on water management and extended electric train systems. Permanent Secretary for Finance Areepong Bhoocha-oom told journalists on Thursday that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved financial assistance to support the Thai government's two new mega investment projects, the first 1.5 million-US dollar fund of which will be used for Thailand's development of water management and flood prevention projects. Areepong acknowledged that Thailand will take two years, from January 2013, to plan the water management systems in accordance with the ADB's guidelines, and that the government, through the Ministry of Finance, will borrow 350 billion baht at once for its water management and flood prevention projects and it will gradually allocate the borrowed fund to relevant projects. Areepong said that the Thai government will select water management and flood prevention projects from local and foreign developers by April 2013 for implementations. According to the senior official, the Manila-based ADB has also provided academic support for the State Railway of Thailand or SRT's financial and accounting management reform, as SRT is operating several rail projects as part of the government’s 2-trillion-baht infrastructure development plans to be implemented over the next seven years. Craig Steffensen, ADB’s Country Director for Thailand, revealed that the support is aimed to help integrate water management plans in Thailand and to help reform the SRT, as the government plans to increase the percentage of overall rail cargo transport activities from 2 to 8 per cent by 2020. As the Thai government has approved new rail development plans, covering those of double-track railways, totally worth 176-billion baht, Steffensen noted that the ADB, thus, wants to help further develop infrastructure in Thailand. (TNA)