ASIA - Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry will ask for THB209m (US$6.59m) to bring a private firm on board to develop and manage the delayed new expo centre in the north of the country.
The Chiang Mai International Convention and Exhibition Center is planned to open at the end of the year following a longstanding construction delay. And according to reports in the Bangkok Post, the Tourism and Sports Ministry's permanent secretary Suwat Sidthilaw is insisting the centre be managed by the private sector, not the ministry.
The appointment will be managed by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which has been advised to look at terms offered by each management company including return on investment and management duration.
"We welcome all professional venue managers, but we cannot allow them to survey the centre yet," Mr Sidthilaw told the newspaper.
The project’s budget includes THB190m for facilities including waste storage and for hiring a company to manage the centre for up to 24 months.
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) was in London last month pitching the ASEAN region's global prominence.
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