“How does infrastructure relate to national development?”

Global infrastructure development clearly represents the world synchronization and globalization. Infrastructures play a major role to facilitate country’s logistic, communication and accesses to energy as an important part of national development.

Based on the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (2008) report, Thailand has climbed-up the global competitiveness ranking from thirty-third to twenty-seventh at the end of 2007. Thailand’s infrastructure ranking supported the fact that the development of infrastructure directly affect to national competitiveness and that the origin of each fast growing country is rooted from its well-managed infrastructure.

Mr. Kantanat Chaipermsak had just defended his case study on “Megaproject Development Relationships Among Stakeholders”. He concluded that infrastructures made their contributions to economic growth and poverty reduction. It is also vital to national development and affect to the national competitiveness. It has been proven that the mechanism of each fast growing country was running by the well-managed infrastructure since it supports country’s logistic, communication and accesses to energy.

This is his abstract.

ABSTRACT


Availability and efficiency of infrastructure contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction while the absence of adequate infrastructure services is one of the main problems that hinder the effort of development. In most developing countries, the demand of service infrastructures rising while existing infrastructures ranges of services are still far too scant. The problem might come from their readiness on such a big investment on infrastructure development. The potential megaproject development mechanism should be created in order to get people prepared and react firmly when the opportunity is coming. This research aims to find out how the megaproject development mechanism works.

The research has been conducted under the unique single-case study basis. The research began with factors identification in order to develop the megaproject development model. After the model has completed, Thai Landbridge megaproject has been selected to be analyzed. Data collection was performed by a data observing process in one of the Landbridge conceptual meeting. Data analysis has been conducted by using explanation building method in which all the observed information and important evidences have been revealed and explained.

Four key stakeholders’ activities have been analyzed. It was found that, most of the time, government and infrastructure investor always play key roles on the Landbridge project development mechanism while the business investors’ activities are mostly based on the key trade-related or commercial activities. By voluntarily involved in some part of the megaproject mechanism process, the communities had received their huge benefits as well.