Korn to review e-auction rules to speed up stimulus projects

"Government procurement by electronic means, e-auction, has been a major cause of slow budget disbursement," Korn told a press conference yesterday.

Korn and senior officials met with specialists from the World Bank on Samui, where they discussed several topics of collaboration.

The minister said on the closing day of the two-day workshop that the government wanted to ensure faster budget disbursement of the stimulus package, worth Bt1.43 trillion. He said public investment under the first stimulus package, worth Bt116 billion, which the government implemented in March, had scarcely moved, due to complex rules about government procurement.

This is delaying economic recovery, he said.

He said Thailand used e-auction for all kinds of public procurements from buying goods to concession bidding. He said the government would change e-auction rules by the end of the month in order to accommodate faster spending on public investment.

Korn also said e-auctions had not prevented leakage of public funds or corruption.

Annette Dixon, World Bank country director, said Thailand was unique among countries using e-auctions in applying the practice to every government procurement of goods and services, instead of only standardised goods such as stationery.

She said e-auctioning was useless in complex investment projects such as those involving infrastructure. The World Bank will send specialists to help improve government procurement, she added.

The two sides also discussed establishment of an infrastructure fund to finance public-investment projects. Experts from the World Bank suggested inviting the private sector to participate in public investment, Korn said.

The World Bank also proposed a clean-technology fund with loans at lower than market interest for environmental-improvement projects. The bank will collaborate with the National Economic and Social Development Board on this.

Korn said the government might join with other countries such as China to launch an infrastructure fund to finance rail routes from southern China to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.