SanMig in tollway deal

       The Philippines' San Miguel Corp said yesterday it planned to buy a 35% stake in a consortium building a 15-billion pesos ($306 million) tollway project near Manila, marking its entry into the infrastructure sector.
       San Miguel, Southeast Asia's largest food and drinks maker, is aggressively venturing out of its core food and beverage business into sectors such as power,oil refining and now infrastructure to feed future growth. It bought a 27% stake in power retailer Manila Electric Co for over $600 million last year and has a pending purchase of a major stake in the country's oil refiner Petron Corp.
       In its statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange, San Miguel did not say how much it was paying for the stake in Private Infrastructure Development Corp, the consortium constructing the toll project north of Manila, nor disclose the terms of the deal.
       The consortium groups First Balfour of the Lopez family, D.M. Consunji Inc (DMCI) of DMCI Group, EEI Corp, and seven other local firms engaged mainly in the construction business. San Miguel is buying the stake through its unit Rapid Thoroughfares.
       On Wednesday, San Miguel won an auction for a diesel-fired power plant sold by the government for $13.502 million, and said it wants to buy more of the state's power facilities.
       To fund its purchases, San Miguel is selling parts of its major subsidiaries through strategic partnerships or a share offering, retaining just 51% as it ventures further into heavy industry.

SRT contracts consultant for airport link

       The State Railway of Thailand is paying a consultancy 85 million baht to help it prepare for its Airport Rail Link.
       The overseas consultancy would train 450 staff and draw up instructions and regulations for the system, which would shuttle between the inner city and Suvarnabhumi airport from next April.
       SRT chairman Thawalrat Onsira said the SRT board voted yesterday to hire DB International GmbH (DBI) for 85 million baht.
       The consultancy would test the Airport Rail Link and train airport link staff over the course of its nine-month contract. It would also draw up instructions and regulations to run the trains.
       Chulalongkorn University's Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration would recruit 450 staff for the SRT to operate the Airport Rail Link in particular, and the consultants would train them.
       The SRT wanted to hire SRT, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTS) and Bangkok Metro Plc staff. The latter two operate electric railways in Bangkok.
       Mr Thawalrat said construction company B Grimm International would hand the Airport Rail Link system together with trains to the SRT on Nov 6 this year and the first tentative operation was set for Dec 5.
       After the one-day trial, officials would evaluate the operation and then resume trial runs from Dec 15 to April next year, when the service would open.
       The number of passengers would be limited during the trial operation.Tickets would be distributed first to workers at Suvarnabhumi airport while the public could seek tickets at main stations of the link. Express trains would operate between Makkasan and the airport, a 15-minute journey without stops, while a trip on ordinary trains with stops at all stations en route would take 30 minutes.
       The SRT would ask the cabinet to decide whether to support its plan to set up a subsidiary to run the Airport Rail Link or back the SRT labour union's demand for the state enterprise to establish a business unit to run the railway.
       Meanwhile, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) yesterday signed a contract to hire CKTC Joint Venture for 14.29 billion baht to build the eastern section of the Purple Line electric railway from Bang Sue to Phra Nang Klao Bridge.
       MRTA chairman Supoj Saplom said the contractor, made up of Ch Karnchang Plc and Tokyu Construction Co, would start construction in 60 days,with work lasting 3.5 to four years.
       The eastern section would extend from the MRTA's present subway end in Bang Sue to Phra Nang Klao Bridge.
       The MRTA would sign two more contracts for the rest of the Purple Line project, opening in 2014.
       The second contract was for the 11km elevated western section across the Chao Phraya River from Phra Nang Klao Bridge to Klong Bang Phai canal in Nonthaburi's Bang Yai district.
       Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction won the work, quoted at 15.32 billion baht.
       The last contract is for a train depot and four park-and-ride buildings, won by PAR Joint Venture, which quoted 6.4 billion baht.

Blue Line bidding open to foreign firms

       The Mass Rapid Transit Authority's board has agreed to open bidding for the Bt76-billion Blue Line urban electric-train project to foreign as well as local contractors.
       "We opted for international bidding rather than an electronic auction as the project size is huge, and foregin contractors should be allowed to participate," Tawalyarat Onsira, an MRTA director, said after the board's meeting yesterday.
       The meeting discussed both sections of the Blue Line, from Bang Sue to Tha Phra and from Hualamphong to Bang Khae.
       The MRTA will now update the project cost, and the terms of reference should be ready for the board's consideration next month.
       If the Comptroller-General's Office approves the international-bidding method, the bid documents should be available in October.
       The Public Debt Management Office yesterday informed the MRTA's board that the Blue Line's constructin would be financed by domestic borrowing. This will shorten the bidding process to between three and six months, said Tawalyarat.
       If the Finance Ministry sought financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the process could take eight to 12 months.
       Tawalyarat said the bidding results should be known by next February. Bidders will be required to pass general qualification criteria, meet the technical construction requirements and quote competitive prices.
       Of the current Blue Line project cost of Bt76 billion, Bt48.8 billion is for civil works and Bt25 billion for rolling stock.
       Board member Chairat Chumwong will chair a committee to take care of land expropriation for the construction of the Blue and Purple lines. About 30 per cent of the land to locate the Purple Line is yet to be expropriated.
       The board yesterday gave its stamp of approval to the qualifications of four companies - AEC, Thai MM, Systra snd PPS - bidding for the Purple Line's construction-project management contract, worth Bt1.3 billion.

THE LION CITY"S NEW SHOWCASE

       Marina Bay emerging as a world-leading business, financial and recreation centre. By Kanana Katharangsiporn in Singapore

       Singapore is proving to the world, and also challenging Hong Kong and Tokyo, that the small island city-state can be a world-leading business and financial hub with the governmentled development project Marina Bay.
       The new development, claimed to be Singapore's most exciting and ambitious urban transformation project, is taking shape on the south of the island on 360 hectares (2,250 rai) of land reclaimed in the 1970s from the sea.
       The government has spent a total of S$7.5 billion to date on infrastructure,excluding land reclamation.
       The infrastructure includes a comprehensive common services tunnel network, a system of purpose-built underground tunnels housing and distributing various utilities services to all developments in Marina Bay.
       Also will be three new underground mass rapid transit stations, as part of new Downtown Line, where underground pedestrian will link to surrounding developments.
       It is constructing ann iconic doublehelix pedestrian and vehicular bridge,new road extensions to the city and airport, coastal expressways, and a 3.5-kmlong continuous waterfront promenade forming a walking loop linking up the attractions.
       At the same time, the International Cruise Terminal, due to start operation by the end of 2011, is being developed by Singapore Tourism Board.
       Another S$1 billion is promised to inject for future infrastructure in the next 10 years, said Fun Siew Leng, group director of Urban Planning & Design with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore's national land use planning and conservation agency.
       "Despite an economic downturn, we are continuing with investment and development. This is a long-term plan and we cannot plan a development project based on an economy that has ups and downs," she said.
       "We have passed many economic cycles during the development of Marina Bay which takes more Ethan 30 years.When the market is not good, we keep monitoring the situation and open biddings of lands in line with the changing environment."
       The URA has laid out the development plan around the bay under the concept of live-work-play environment, giving developers the flexibility to decide on the mix of uses such as housing, offices,shops, hotels, resorts, recreational facilities and community spaces.
       Along the waterfront and fronting key open spaces, buildings heights are deliberately kept low to maximise views to and from individual developments further away from the waterfront, creating a dynamic three-dimensional "steppedup" skyline profile.
       The URA was appointed in 2004 as the development agency for Marina Bay to co-ordinate the development efforts,implement key infrastructure and promote investment opportunities and programme activities.
       The investment from the private sector started in 2001. The first project was developed by One Marina Boulevard Pte Ltd, an international consortium comprising Cheung Kong (Holdings),Keppel Land and Hongkong Land. It was later named One Raffles Quay.
       To date the project has drawn S$20.2 billion of private real estate investments from both local and international investors.
       Mega projects for leisure include The Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest observation wheel; Marina Bay Sands,Singapore's first integrated resort; and The Float at Marina Bay, the world's largest floating stage; and Singapore's first Art Park.
       The first night Formula One Grand Prix night race was held in September last year in Marina Bay.
       As Marina Bay is aimed to be new central business district (CBD) extending seamlessly from the existing CBD, it will support the country's growth as Asia's major business and financial hub.
       When completed, it claims to provide 3.45 million square metres of office space adding the existing office space at the current CBD Raffles Place.
       They will be from Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), first phase of which will be completed next year,50 Collyer Quay in 2010 and Asia Square Towers 1 and 2 completed in 2012.
       Currently, completed residential area is The Sail @ Marina Bay, the tallest condominium in Singapore at 245 metres and 70 stories high. Upcoming will be a condominium tower and luxury villas in phase two of MBFC.
       "Investors interested in developments must bid for land that is offered with freehold and leasehold types and we will consider distinctive design, business model and pricing," said Ms Fun.
       Greenery all around is also in the plan. The URA is developing a green area where trees will be planted - Gardens by the Bay, made up of three interconnected waterfront gardens totalling 101 hectares and due to be completed in 2012.

CABINET PUTS A HOLD ON FOREIGN BORROWING

       The Cabinet yesterday endorsed a Finance Ministry plan to delay a US$500-million (Bt17 billion) loan from the Asian Development Bank.
       It also suspended previously agreed borrowing from the World Bank and the Plan International Cooperation Agency.
       Ministers agreed domestic liquidity was sufficient to finance the latest stimulus package and that government revenue had shown some improvement.
       Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said domestic borrowing would also reduce pressure on the baht, which had strengthened against the US dollar in recent months.
       "I discussed the bill to approve borrowing of Bt400 billion with the prime minister, particularly senators' questions. We will ensure tranparency. Meanwhile, the planned foreign borrowing will be delayed, in line with the government's policy of tapping domestic funds and slowing the baht's appreciation," he said yesterday.
       The decision coincided with a Finance Ministry report that the government's revenue intake in the first 10 months of fiscal 2009 was Bt1.12 trillion, down Bt119 billion, or 9.6 per cent, from the same period last year. Last month alone, revenue reached Bt98.1 billion, down Bt9.85 billion, or 9.1 per cent, year on year.
       Still, ministry spokesman Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the outlook was better, particularly for value-added tax, import tariffs and auto excise taxes. The revenue shortfall, from Bt1.6 trillion in expenses for the fiscal year, is expected to narrow to Bt206 billion, from an original forecast of Bt280 billion.
       The Cabinet yesterday also delayed a decision on Bt6.8 billion worth of bonus payments for civil servants this fiscal year. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said it remained unknown whether there would be any money left for bonuses and even if so, the propriety of any such payments would have to eb carefully considered.
       The Office of the Public Sector Development Commission also asked for a special allocation from the central 2010 budget to give to 1.5 million civil servants.
       Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu earlier announced there would be no banuses in 2010 and that such payments in 2011 depended on economic conditions and government policy at the time.
       Meanwhile, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand is expected to sign a deal for construction of the first section of the Purple Line electric-train route this month following Cabinet approval yesterday.
       Transport Minister Sophon Saram said after yesterday's meeting that the Cabinet approved the first contract, covering 12 kilometres of the elevated route, and acknowledged the proposed construction costs in the second and third contracts.
       "The first contract should be signed with CKTC Joint Venture this month," he said.
       Construction on the route is estimated at Bt32.4 billion.
       The first 12-kilometre section will cost Bt14.3 billion; the second contract for another 11km will entail Bt13.1 billion; and the third contract, for a maintenance centre and parking areas, will be for Bt4 billion.
       Another contract for rail installation will be for Bt4 billion.
       The Cabinet also approved criteria for maize and tapioca price quarantees, which will replace its pledging schemes.
       The guarantee schemes will be kicked off following farmer registration.