The Treasury Department is looking to trim its lease rates for state land in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in an effort to attract investment in the area, its chief says.
The department will consider cutting the lease rates, which start from 3% of asset value for state land in the EEC, said director-general Patchara Anuntasilpa.
The department has two large land plots in the EEC: the 830-rai Digital Innovation Park and robotic aerospace industrial estate in Sri Racha, Chon Buri, and the 6,500-rai U-tapao airport in Rayong.
Digital Innovation Park, set up by CAT Telecom and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, covers 500 rai and is now under construction. CAT Telecom and Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency estimate the 830-rai plot will attract at least 50 billion baht worth of investment a year, and investors in the area will generate annual income of 70 billion and create 100,000 jobs.
For the land plot at U-tapao airport, a second runway will be developed as well as a terminal that can serve 15 million passengers over the next five years and 30 million in the next 10 years.
The EEC Policy Committee on April 5 approved the first phase of the airport's makeover as the first infrastructure project at the EEC. Investment includes 8 billion baht to build the second runway in three years.
Kanit Sangsubhan, director of the EEC Office, said it needs to discuss with the Treasury Department appropriate lease rates, especially for EEC areas that will be used as research and development centres as such centres do not generate income but can add value to products.
The committee, chaired by the prime minister, will hold a meeting to consider an investment plan for a double-track rail project worth 20-30 billion baht linking Laem Chabang to the EEC and a third phase of the Laem Chabang deep-sea port worth 80 billion baht. Investment would be using a public-private partnership (PPP).
The committee will also consider shortening the required investment period to less than nine months for fast-track PPP projects, he said, while the Education Ministry will mull cutting the approval period for EEC workforce training curriculum from four years.