Chonburi – Laem Chabang port is pushing forward Phase Three of its development project with a market sounding.
Deputy Transport Minister Pailin Chuchottaworn said the Phase Three plan, a 1,600-rai development project, will be performed as on PPP basis between the public and private sectors, with the Port Authority of Thailand being responsible for the investment in the construction of infrastructure, the excavation of canals, and the installation of utilities with a 40 billion baht budget.
The private sector will invest in the container yard development, the installation of logistics technology and the construction of piers, with the investment budget estimated at 80 billion baht.
The planned expansion of Laem Chabang port will add five more piers to the existing facilities, with four piers being for cargo ships, and one other for ferry boats, passenger ships, and small cargo ships.
Two more negotiations with private firms will be held prior to the summarization of the project and the proposal to the cabinet by the end of this year. The construction is expected to commence in early 2019, and will take five-years to complete. The port’s new facilities are expected to be operational in 2024.
The expansion will turn Laem Chabang port into an important logistics gateway for the Eastern Economic Corridor, being one of the 20 most important ports of the world, and being the most important port in ASEAN. The port capacity will be expanded from 11 million containers to 18 million annually, cutting down the country’s logistics costs for export from 14 percent to 12 percent, or saving about 250 billion baht.
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