BTS is set to acquire the high-speed rail connecting three airports worth 200 billion baht after opening the price envelopes, scoring better marks. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) is expected to take 7 days to finalize the results before announcing them officially.

          Mr. Worawut Mala, Governor of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), revealed that the progress of the high-speed rail project connecting three airports, valued at 215 billion baht, saw the opening of the third envelope regarding pricing on December 11. Competing private entities, namely the joint venture of Charoen Pokphand Holdings Co., Ltd. and its partners, and the BSR Joint Venture, successfully opened their envelopes without any complaints. The auction results are still unknown as the details of the bids need to be reviewed before determining the final figures.

          However, it is expected that the official results will be announced within 7 days, before negotiations with the winning bidder are completed by the end of this month, to present the selection results to the Cabinet meeting in mid-January 2019, with the aim of signing the contract by the end of the month.

          Mr. Worawut further stated that the key indicators that will determine the auction results are: 1. The proposal for government subsidies should be as low as possible, not exceeding 120 billion baht; 2. The proposal for the highest return throughout the project for the government, focusing on the final net value. Therefore, the party that presents the best figures will win the project.

          Sources from the SRT revealed that in this round of price envelope opening, the best bid was from the BSR Joint Venture, whose management expressed confidence, stating that the auction results would bring only good news, not bad. However, the selection committee still needs about 7 days to review the details of the third envelope to see if the final figures from both parties meet the criteria.

          Reports from the SRT indicated that there had been discussions regarding the second bidding envelope, where the technical aspects of the bidders for the high-speed rail project connecting three airports were considered. It was found that both groups met the qualifications and passed the technical evaluation. The latest step on December 11 involved the SRT assessing the financial proposals from the private sector for the high-speed rail project, which has now been completed.

          Nevertheless, the SRT cannot disclose the prices until the consultants have thoroughly reviewed the pricing documents. It is expected that the final price results will be announced by December 14, 2018. After that, the final step before announcing the winner will involve negotiations, followed by sending the draft contract to the Office of the Attorney General for further review. The auction results are anticipated to be finalized by January 2019.

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