STATE ENTERPRISES
State holding company back on the table
The State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO) has revived a proposal for a holding company as a tool to manage the 9 trillion baht in assets held by state enterprises, says Somchai Sujjapongse, the agency's director-general.
He said the holding company would be an investment arm of the Thai government similar to Singapore's Temasek, China's Sasac and Malaysia's Khazanah, all of which have successfully managed assets.
Somchai: Huge increase in wealth"Given the size of these assets, if we can manage them efficiently, the wealth of the nation will increase tremendously," said Dr Somchai.
SEPO plans to set up the holding company once the new government approves the idea. Under the holding company concept, the state arm would have authority to seek returns from investments in Thailand and overseas.
"For example, if we are looking at securing the energy supply, the holding company could invest in oil-well concessions," said Dr Somchai, but the risk-management system must be effective in order to ensure the health of state assets.
State enterprises have contributed profits to the Finance Ministry of about 90 billion baht per year, money that could be used for capital investment, Dr Somchai pointed out.
The state holding company idea originated with former finance minister Somkid Jatusripitak in the Thaksin Shinawatra government, and a law was drafted at the time.
But the draft was put on hold after the Thaksin government was overthrown in a 2006 coup.
In Dr Somchai's view, the Thai state holding company should follow the example of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, established in 1993 and entrusted with holding and managing assets for the Malaysian government.
China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) is responsible for managing China's state enterprises, including appointing top executives and approving any mergers or sales of equities and other assets, as well as drafting laws related to state enterprises.
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