The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Policy Committee, the Board of Investment (BoI) and the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) have agreed to establish a joint panel to serve as an investor relations body, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said on Monday.
Mr Suriya, who chaired last week's meeting of a committee tasked with speeding up investments within the EEC, said the joint panel aims to streamline various processes to make the corridor more attractive to investors, while also promoting opportunities to new and potential investors, both domestic and foreign.
According to Mr Suriya, the meeting – which was attended by Chula Sukmanop, secretary-general of the EEC Office – also agreed to seek input from relevant agencies as it sought to facilitate environmental impact assessments for projects within the EEC.
The Department of Public Works would be asked for recommendations concerning city planning to make land use align with the EEC scheme, while the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep) would be invited to give recommendations on improvement of EIA regulations to facilitate investments in targeted businesses in the EEC.
Moreover, the meeting discussed the progress of four EEC infrastructure projects: the 220-kilometre high-speed rail project linking the three airports, development of the U-tapao airport and the aviation city, the third-phase development of Laem Chabang deep-sea port and the third phase development of the Map Ta Phut deep-sea port.
He said authorities concerned were instructed to speed up the handover of land in Bangkok's Phaya Thai-Bang Sue area designated for the project development within May next year.
The Royal Thai Navy, which supervises the U-tapao airport, would be asked to expedite the planned bidding for the second runway and taxiway within this month. All those involved with the high-speed rail project and the aviation city were also urged to closely coordinate with each other to ensure contract compliance.
As for the Laem Chabang deep-sea port, the meeting instructed the Port Authority of Thailand to speed up land reclamation work and hand over the area to the project partners by November 2025. The facility is scheduled to be completed and open for use in late 2027.
Involving the Map Ta Phut deep-sea port, the meeting asked the IEAT to complete land reclamation work by the end of next year. The facility, which would facilitate transport and storage of liquid goods including liquefied natural gas, is scheduled to be completed and open in early 2027.