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Published on November 21, 2007

Public Debt Management Office director-general Pongpanu Svetarundra yesterday said the JBIC team would look into details of the feasibility of the electric-train route as part of normal loan-approval procedures.

The JBIC has informed the Finance Ministry its mission will visit Thailand on December 10 to seek more information and discuss financial aspects of the project.

The government wants to accelerate the construction of the Red Line. However, Pongpanu said loan approval may come too late for the current administration and that further negotiations might have to be handled by the new government.

Construction of the Red Line is the responsibility of the State Railway of Thailand.

The JBIC has already agreed to finance construction of the Bt31-billion Purple Line, connecting Bang Sue to Bang Yai. International bidding for the project's construction should be opened by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority after December 5, Pongpanu said.

The JBIC has notified the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development about its lending, and the two sides will have to wait 30 days before a loan agreement can be signed.

"We expect to sign a loan contract with the JBIC by early next year," Pongpanu said.

The term of the Purple Line loan is 25 years, with interest of 1.4 per cent per year. The first draw down may be only Bt10 billion, to match progress in real investment.

The government also wants to borrow from the JBIC to finance the circular Blue Line linking Bang Sue to Tha Phra and Hualamphong to Bang Khae.

Pongpanu said he did not think the new government would make any major changes to existing plans for Bangkok's mass-transit projects. All political parties were promising to continue investment in mass transit and other government mega-projects.

He also said Chinese officials would visit the Finance Ministry in the next two weeks to discuss loans for other mega-projects. The Chinese government previously agreed in principle to lend Thailand US$400 million (Bt13.54 billion) to finance infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), the World Bank, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the Finance Ministry signed a grant agreement yesterday to fund a road-safety campaign.

The JSDF offered a grant of $834,200 through the World Bank.

Robert Klein, regional programme director of the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP), said the grant would enable the IFRC, a host organisation of the GRSP, to implement a campaign to raise awareness among young people about wearing safety helmets while riding motorcycles.

The IFRC will work with 120 communities in the Northeast, where the grant will support helmet subsidies and enforcement of helmet use in poor communities located close to highways, he said.

Wichit Chaitrong

 The Nation