Italian Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's largest construction firm, said that it expected to reach a conclusion in 2012 on how it would finance the Dawei deep sea port and infrastructure projects in Myanmar.
Mr Premchai Karnasuta president of Italian Thai said that it has no plan to raise funds via an equity issue, but it planed to convert some land into capital and also receive revenue from land sales in Dawei. He added that "We are discussing with financial institutions about financing and received a good response from foreign banks."
Mr Premchai said that priorities included investing in infrastructure such as port, road and rail networks. Financial institutions from Japan and China have showed interest in extending loans for rail construction.
In late 2010, Italian Thai signed a USD 8 billion contract for the deep sea port and infrastructure project in Dawei in the Tanintharyi region of southern Myanmar. The company has set up a unit, Dawei Development Co Ltd, to operate and construct the port and related infrastructure.
Italian Thai also planned to conclude in 2012 a plan to find partners for six projects, including power plants, oil and gas, petrochemical, fertilizer, steel and a port and it aimed to sell at least 20,000 acres of land at Dawei.
He said that the coal fired power plants are expected to need investment of USD 7 billion. It would need USD 3.5 billion for port and roads and another USD 2 billion for rail projects, adding his firm was in talks with foreign partners to jointly invest in the power plant project.
In November 2011, Italian Thai signed an agreement with Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Pcl to build coal fired power plants with a combined capacity of 4,000 MWs.
Mr Premchai said that "We got Ratchaburi as a partner and we have three investors, two Japanese and one South Korean, who showed interest in the power plant project."
He said that Italian Thai also planned to sell a stake in Dawei Development and the Myanmar's private sector was keen to buy a 25% of its unit. He added that "ITD will hold not less than 51% in Dawei Development and we are open for both Thai and foreign investors."
Mr Premchai said that strong domestic building projects should help boost the company's ongoing construction jobs, excluding Dawei, to reach THB 400 billion in 2012, up from THB 170 billion in 2011. The company is expected to post a net loss of THB 1.7 billion for 2011 and a loss of THB 37 million for 2012.
