The roadshow kicked off in Bangkok yesterday.
ITD currently holds a 100-per-cent stake with registered capital of Bt500 million in Dawei Development, which has a 75-year concession to develop a Dawei deep-sea port, an industrial estate and a trans-border corridor link on a 250-square-kilometre site in Burma's Dawei district.
ITD president Premchai Karnasuta said the company was prepared to reduce its stake in Dawei Development to 51 per cent, as it would seek strategic partners overseas for the remaining 49 per cent.
The overall Dawei project requires an investment budget of more than US$8 billion (about Bt240 billion).
ITD has appointed Siam Commercial Bank as its financial adviser and lead manager for loan syndication.
Premchai said the company was also interested in investing in both the infrastructure and industrial activity that will take place at the Dawei site, such as a power plant and cement, paper and steel plants.
"Dawei Development, which will develop the Dawei project, will hold between 10 and 30 per cent in both the infrastructure and industries in Dawei, with the rest being held as an overall majority stake by our strategic partners," he said.
The project will start construction next year, now that ITD has invested about Bt500 million to develop basic infrastructure such as roads. The company will inject a further Bt2 billion to develop the infrastructure system.
The investment budget for this phase comes from the company's cash flow and a debenture that will be issued in the second half of this year, he said.
The company's president said the project would require about 10 years for full development of the infrastructure and the industrial estate. The estate will eventually comprise a power plant and petrochemical, steel and other major industrial plants, with a focus on the export market.
The development period will entail costs of about $4 billion for the Dawei infrastructure, half of which will be spent on infrastructure for the projects themselves, which will be developed by ITD.
Industrial projects at the estate will receive tax privileges after the Burmese government's promulgation of the Dawei Special Economic Zone law. These include a waiver of business income tax for the first five years, followed by five years of paying half the normal rate of 30 per cent.
Project owners can also sign long leases of between 30 and 75 years, Premchai said.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/06/09/business/ITD-kicks-off-roadshow-to-seek-partners-for-Dawei--30157378.html
