Caretaker Finance Minister Thanong Bidaya yesterday assured foreign bankers and investors that privatisation and mega-investment projects would continue under the next government.

Thanong conceded that the government had failed in convincing people of the benefits of floating state enterprises, saying past attempts had not been done properly, leading the public to object to the policy. He was addressing a conference on "Infrastructure financing: the roles of public-private partnerships and private finance initiatives", hosted by the Finance Ministry and the British Embassy.

The government had not done a good enough job of organising public hearings for privatisations, and it could not assure good governance and transparency, Thanong told investors at the conference.

Although the incumbent government is in a caretaker mode, every ministry is busy preparing to implement privatisation and mega-projects, so the next government would waste no time in acting, he said.

"The new government will be the same government," Thanong said out of apparent confidence the Thai Rak Thai Party would be voted back in power.

Thanong said the government would try to communicate with people to make them understand the real pluses of privatisation.

He later told reporters the Finance Ministry would conduct a study on why the privatisation of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) had not gone through. In March, the Supreme Administrative Court nullified the privatisation on grounds that the process violated the Constitution. If Egat wishes to go ahead with privatisation, it should learn from past experience, he said.

The Thaksin government initiated a Bt1.8-trillion mega-project scheme for transport, mass transit, water and power supplies and housing. Political uncertainty and disruption of privatisation were blamed for the delay in executing the investment plan.

Stephen Harris, international head of London-based International Financial Services, said without a high level of political support, there would be no public-private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure investment to provide public services.

PPP is not about selling national assets to companies. The government should have the single objective of better service for the public, he said.

Adequate communication with the people and the press is also key to success in completing projects via PPP, he said.

Alderman David Brewer, the Lord Mayor of London, said PPP originated in the United Kingdom about 25 years ago.

Since 1995, 700 projects have been started with support of more than £50 billion (Bt3.6 trillion) from the private sector, and 500 projects are currently in operation, he said.

Eighty-eight per cent of the PPP projects were delivered on time and 79 per cent were delivered on budget, he said.

Wichit Chaitrong

 The Nation