SET-listed Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD), which has agreed to develop the Dawei megaproject in Myanmar, is to request a bigger investment budget from the Thai and Myanmar governments soon.
The company plans to enhance infrastructures linked to the Dawei project, including expanding the 132-kilometre road from Thailand's Phu Nam Ron village in Kanchanaburi to the Dawei deep-sea port.
"We want to enlarge the road from a two-lane to a four-lane road. However, to do so we need a bigger investment budget," said Somjet Tinnapong, managing director of Dawei Development Co, a subsidiary of ITD.
He declined to give details about the exact budget the company required.
However, sources at Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), which oversees cooperation on the Dawei project, said the plan would need to be considered by both sides before being getting approval.
According to the tentative schedule, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak is due to chair a meeting on Dec 14 to follow up on progress of the Dawei project and issuing a greater investment budget is expected to be on the table.
"H.E. U Nyan Tun, Myanmar's vice-president, and senior Myanmar officials are also expected to join the meeting in Bangkok to discuss the issue," said the NESDB source.
"There will be senior officials from the JHC at the meeting," said the source, referring to the Thailand-Myanmar Joint High-Level Committee, which oversees the Dawei project.
A budget of 4.5 billion baht was set for the development of the 132-km road to the deep-sea port.
ITD signed an agreement with the Myanmar government in August to start developing the first phase of the Dawei megaproject immediately, with an initial investment budget of US$1.7 billion.
Some $500 million will go to a 450-megawatt gas-fired power plant. ITD plans to invest in an additional coal-fired power plant once the Dawei industrial zone is fully developed.
Another $500 million will be spent on a petrochemical plant and oil refinery to serve demand at Dawei.
The project is expected to help stimulate the local economy by creating up to 100,000 jobs when it is completed.