Announcement of Highlights of the World Bank Group's Activities for Thailand in Fiscal 1974 on September 23, 1974

HOL,J) FOR RELEASE INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTI~RNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 181 8 H STREET, N W WASHINGTON D.C.20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 For Publication Monday, September 23, 1974 THAILAND HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORLD BANK GROUP'S ACTIVITIES IN FISCAL 1974 THAILAND RECEIVES LARGE LOANS FOR HYDRO POWER AND BANGKOK WATER SUPPLY. FARMERS IN NORTHEAST GETTING ASSISTANCE World Bank Group lending in Thailand totalled $149 million during fiscal 1974, part of the record $4,517 million the World Bank Group colillilitted during • the year, according to the Annual Report of the Bank and its affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA), which was released today. The World Bank Group's lending for fiscal 1974 was $962million more than in the previous year, and the number of Bank and IDA projects approved rose from $148 in fiscal 1973 to 174 this year• Asia was again the largest recipient. Bank and IDA le~ding to the countries of the Asian region continued to rise. New loans and credits in fiscal 1974 totalled $1,361.8 million -- an increase of about 7.5% over the previous year. The most dramatic increase has been in lending for agriculture. That sector has accounted for about 25% of the total for the region, compared with about 16% the year before. The. increase reflects a conscious effort to invest most heavily in those sectors on which the majority of the people depend for their living. The range of Bank and IDA activities in the agricultural sector has been wide, reflecting • the varied needs of the many countries of the region. Assistance was approved  -2- • during the year for rural development, irrigation, credit, forestry, dairy development, land settlement, fisheries, and seed, fruit and vegetable projects. Bank and IDA assistance has continued its support for Asia's poor, smallholder farmers. In Thailand, some 16,000 farm families in the Northeast will benefit from an IDA credit for an irrigation improvem~nt project. A description of Bank/IDA operations in Thailand during fiscal 1974 follows: Project to Help Poor Farmers The $7 million IDA credit is assisting a project that will inc.rease agricultural production in the poorest region of the country, the Northeast. • The area, which covers one third of Thailand, has 13 million inhabitants who represent a third of the nation's people. But they account for less than a fifth of the national income. The project includes the completion and improvement of existing irrigation systems, covering 107,000 acres (42,000 ha.), in areas served by the Lam Pao, Lam Phra Plerng and Nam Pong reservoirs. It aim3 at increasing the yield of the wet-season rice croo and will introduce dry-season cropping on more than half the paddy land in the three areas. The project is expected to increase the incomes of 16,000 f~rm families in: three areas from $40 to between $50 and $90 a year. The increase in rice production is expected to reach 129,000 tons by 1982, and employment opportuni- ties in the irrigated areas will almost triple at full development. Hydro Project at Ban Chao Nen • A World Bank loan of $75 million to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), is helping to finance part of the first phase of a  -3- • hydro-electric power project at Ban Chao Nen, on the Quae Yai river, 150 kilometers northwest of Bangkok. Since 1957, the World Bank has made seven loans to EGAT and its main predecessor, the Yanhee Electricity Authority, making a total of $232 million. In addition to enabling EGAT to generate 360 MW of electricity, the dam and reservoir will make available a reliable supply of water to irrigate 235,000 hectares of land in the dry season, and facilitate flood control in the wet season. The environmental implications of the dam and reservoir have been carefully studied with the aid of a team of experts assembled by the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. A plan for resettling 8,000 people who will be displaced by the reservoir is being drawn up by the Government. The Bank loan included an amount to help finance this resettle- • ment. The total cost of the. project is estimated at $181.3 million. $55 Milli£n for Bangkok Water Supply A Bank loan of $55 million is supporting a project to expand and improve water supply in the city of Bangkok and the surrounding area. The Bangkok metrol?olitan area's present population of three million is expected to grow to six million by 1985. The project, which is estimated to cost $212 million over the next five years, is essential for maintaining and improving health. standards, and vital to the proper functioning of the city as a whole. It will greatly increase both the number of peopl~ and the area served. The Bank loan also will help finance technical assistance to strengthen the adminis- tration of the Metropolitan Water Works Authority (MWWA). Raw water intake and pumping facilities are to be expanded, and a new • treatment plant will be built. The treated water will be pumped through transmission tunnels to new ground level reservoirs at various sites in  -4- • Bangkok. From these, it will be pumped into the distribution network which is to be improved and expanded with the assistance of a loan from the Asian Development Bank. Assistance for IndustE,Y. Thailand's effort to promote industrial development is being assisted by a $12 million Bank loan which will enable the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand (IFCT) to meet part of the foreign exchange needs for investments in industry from 1974 to 1976. IFCT is largely a privately-owned developm~nt finance company. Its main objectives are to assist the establishment, expansion and modernization of private industrial enterprises and to encourage the participation of private capital, both domestic and foreign, in such enterprises. IFCT plans to • increase its role in areas important for the economic and social development of Thailand by financing export-oriented and agro-based industries which con~ribute to regional development. IFCT expects to conunit about $50 million d~ring the period mid-1974 to mid~l976 including about $35 million in f0reign exchange. The Bank loan will provide IFCT with $12 million to help meet its untied foreign currency requirements during this period. ~- •