Cars parked at the Treasury Department's old Mor Chit bus terminal. APICHIT JINAKUL

The Finance Ministry is set to propose to Bangkok Terminal as a concessionaire to develop the long-delayed Mor Chit project either this Tuesday or next Tuesday, says a senior official.

The project's construction value is to be 26 billion baht, said Amornrat Klamplob, deputy director-general of the Treasury Department.

The 63-rai Mor Chit project is scheduled to include a department store, office buildings, apartments, a hotel and a park-and-ride area. It is one of three major projects the Treasury Department has accelerated after being delayed for years.

Other projects to be proposed are the construction of a boutique hotel on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River, and the expansion of Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC).

In August 1996, the department signed a concession contract with Sun Estate Co, later renamed Bangkok Terminal, to develop the property as a multi-use complex to serve as a main transport hub for northern routes out of Bangkok. But the project has been stalled amid allegations of corruption and economic turmoil following the 1997 crisis and legal probing over whether the project complied with terms of the 1992 Joint Public-Private Venture Act.

The project's contract, originally estimated at 18 billion baht, was ruled legal by the Supreme Administrative Court, and can proceed to be assigned.

The 30-year new contract calls for the concessionaire to pay a rental fee of 600 million baht, and the Treasury Department will have rights to use land areas worth 2.4 billion baht in the project, she said.

The boutique hotel development deal on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River is expected to be signed with a concessionaire next year, Ms Amornrat said. The construction value could increase as it has been delayed for more than a decade, she said.

For the QSNCC project, she said the contract is being vetted by the Office of the Attorney-General and a contract is expected to be signed with a concessionaire next year.

The QSNCC project's construction value has been raised to 6 billion baht from 2.7 billion in the original plan. The project's returns to the government has been raised to 5.1 billion baht from 3.1 billion.

Contracts for Songkhla pier and Bangpra Golf Club projects are also being vetted by the Office of the Attorney-General before being opened for bidding, expected next year.

The development of Zone C at the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex, worth 30 billion baht, is expected to be on the cabinet's agenda soon, she said.

Ms Amornrat said the Treasury Department's income from land rental is estimated to increase by 10% after the department raises the rental fee to 3% of returns on assets next year from 2% now.

The rental fee hike will be applied to only to commercial areas, leaving residential tenants unaffected, she said.

The department manages 12.5 million rai of state land, 4% of which is for commercial use.

The department's revenue from coin mint operations and land leases will reach 11 billion baht this fiscal year, outpacing the target of 7.4 billion, thanks largely to a 3-billion-baht rental fee from a lease renewal with Thai Oil Plc, said Ms Amornrat.