Companies in Italy are interested in investing in Thailand’s Land Bridge megaproject which would, in turn, enhance the country’s rail network, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit yesterday said.
Speaking after meeting with senior executives of Italian private companies, Mr Suriya said the talks involved exchanging technological knowledge and promoting trade and investment between the two countries.
The discussion also included various investment approaches, particularly regarding the land bridge project that links the Gulf of Thailand coast with the Andaman Sea.
According to him, Fincantieri, Italy’s leading shipbuilding company, showed interest in investing in the megaproject. He said the company could provide maintenance services for cargo ships and participate in other port construction projects.
Meanwhile, Webuild, a leading company in construction and civil engineering design, proposed large-scale infrastructure construction technology and expressed interest in investing in the project as well.
Mr Suriya also said Paolo Barletta, CEO of Arsenale Group, a luxury hospitality developer, expressed his intention to partner with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to upgrade train carriages to a luxury level which fits in with Thailand’s long-term tourism plan.
Arsenale is currently collaborating with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane to create luxury tourist train carriages on a Milan-Rome-Milan route expected to attract high-income tourists when it opens in November.
Mr Suriya said he also met with Michele Straniero, vice president of Blue Engineering & Design, a company specialising in efficient automotive, railway, and aircraft engineering design. The ministry hoped to apply this knowledge in future developments.
Additionally, the transport minister talked with representatives from Nplus, who presented technology for inspecting the quality of infrastructure.
He said the company was renowned for providing sensor systems and software for data analysis, alerting and accurately reporting structure sturdiness.
