Thai privatization plans revived<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Reuter): Thailand's severe economic problems have
\nnudged its politicians into reviving the sluggish privatization
\nof state enterprises as the government seeks funds to tackle a
\ngrowing fiscal deficit.<\/p>\n
Former prime minister and current chairman of the government
\nadvisory board Chatichai Choonhavan has called on the government
\nto speed up plans for licensing private participation in
\nprofitable state enterprises.<\/p>\n
Chatichai said the injection of private capital would earn
\nmore revenue for the cash-strapped government and spare it the
\nneed to finance expansion of state enterprises.<\/p>\n
Thailand is expecting heavy fiscal deficits, its first in 10
\nyears, in the current and 1997\/98 (October-September) fiscal
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Analysts said on Wednesday Chatichai's Chart Pattana Party, a
\nsenior partner in Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's six-
\nparty coalition, was the prime mover of government plans to
\nliberalize and divest assets of state-owned utilities.<\/p>\n
Chart Pattana controls the transport and communications
\nministry that supervises phone, telecommunications, rail and
\nhighway agencies as well as national carrier Thai Airways
\nInternational Plc.<\/p>\n
Officials at the state-owned Telephone Organization of
\nThailand (TOT) said the government was finalizing a plan to
\nrestructure the highly profitable phone monopoly that would lead
\nto a public offer of up to a quarter of its equity.<\/p>\n
\"We do not oppose privatization in principle but the
\ngovernment still has not clarified how it would allow private
\nparticipation in our operation,\" said Karvee Chitkaew, vice
\npresident of TOT Labor Union.<\/p>\n
He said TOT, with assets estimated at 200-300 billion baht
\n($6.67-10.0 billion), earned about 20 billion baht in revenue a
\nyear -- of which about half was contributed to government
\ncoffers.<\/p>\n
Karvee, however, told Reuters that his union would resist
\nattempts by politicians with business connections to exploit
\nprivatization for their personal interests.<\/p>\n
\"Eighty percent of past phone concessions were awarded through
\nquestionable process,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Thailand has since 1992 granted a two-million-phone concession
\nin Bangkok to TelecomAsia Plc and a one-million-line rural phone
\nproject to Thai Telephone and Telecommunications Plc.<\/p>\n
Analysts said TOT and Communications Authority of Thailand
\n(CAT), which operates overseas phone and postal services, were
\ntwo state enterprises whose privatization had been eagerly
\nawaited by private investors, especially foreign telecom firms.<\/p>\n
They said CAT operated a lucrative business that earned an
\nestimated 18 billion baht in revenue a year from 50 billion baht
\nin assets.<\/p>\n
Thai Airways, which went public in 1992 with a seven percent
\ninitial share offer, announced last week it planned to publicly
\noffer another 250 million shares late this year. The move would
\nfurther trim government ownership in the carrier to 76 percent.<\/p>\n
Thai Airways chairman Mahidol Chantrangkun said his firm would
\nfurther cut state equity holdings to 47 percent by 2000, with
\nforeign investors being allowed to take a combined maximum 25
\npercent in the airline.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thai-privatization-plans-revived-1447893297",
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