The government’s committee directing the policy of the flagship Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme, also known as the EEC board, on Thursday agreed in principle to endorse four more mega projects under the ECC scheme.
This brought the total number of large-scale infrastructure projects approved under the EEC policy to five and the combined investment value for these five projects to 652.5 billion baht, said Khanit Saengsuphan, secretary-general of the EEC board.
Speaking after Thursday’s meeting of the EEC board chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Mr Khanit said the five projects are a high-speed train project to link up Suvanabhumi airport, Don Mueang airport and U-Tapao airport; a project to develop U-Tapao airport and a so-called aviation city in the East; a project to develop the U-Tapao aircraft repair and maintenance centre, a project to expand the Lam Chabang Port in Phase 3; and a project to develop Phase 3 of Map Ta Phut industrial port.
Of the combined investment value of 652.5 billion baht, the government will put in 32% (209.9 billion baht) of the required investment funds and the rest (442.6 billion baht) will come from private investors, under a public-private partnership investment format.
The high-speed train project to link up the three airports was already approved by the board on Jun 18.
In addition, the board also acknowledged the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s draft of an operation plan for developing a digital infrastructure to support the EEC scheme and the government’s ambition to turn Thailand into a regional economic hub, said Mr Khanit.
The draft plan consists of eight projects, namely Digital Park Thailand and Internet of Things (IoT) Institute; Advanced Big Data, Cloud and Data Centre; Automated Postal Distribution Centre, IoT Smart City, 5G Technology Testing Centre, IoT Infrastructure Development Project, Wiring Harness Fiberglass Cable and i-Pole Project; and ASENA Digital Hub Project.
