With airports working as important company magnets and financial chauffeurs, the federal government is taking a look at twinning U-tapao airport with the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone (ZAEZ) of Zhengzhou Xinzheng airport in Henan, China in the coming years.
According to Kanit Sangsubhan, secretary-general of the Eastern Economic Passage Workplace, the ZAEZ will be the archetype for the U-tapao aerotropolis.
” U-tapao airport will be updated into the Eastern Economic Corridor-Aerotropolis (EEC-A) when the very first stage of its 200-billion-baht growth is carried out,” Mr Kanit stated, including that the EEC-A and the ZAEZ will later on sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the cooperation in between the 2 aerotropolises.
An aerotropolis is where cities are developed around airports to link time-sensitive providers, producers, suppliers and company individuals to remote consumers, customers and markets.
Mr Kanit just recently led agents from associated state companies, consisting of the Royal Thai Navy, the Budget Plan Bureau and the Workplace of the Attorney-General, to observe the ZAEZ’s development.
The ZAEZ is an airport-based financial zone established around Zhengzhou Xinzheng airport. It sits about 25 kilometres to the southeast of Zhengzhou and inhabits a location of 415 square kilometres.
According to Mr Kanit, the EEC-A and the ZAEZ will begin cooperation in 3 locations: the collaboration to establish 10 targeted markets, shared worth chain network advancement and personnel advancement.
The collaboration likewise covers the exchange of experiences in between the ZAEZ and the EEC-A, and cooperation on air freight and travelers in between Zhengzhou and U-tapao.
Mr Kanit stated Thailand likewise intends to extend the cooperation to education in between the universities of Thailand and China, especially on innovation advancement and development.
He stated the ZAEZ intends to end up being a center for northern Asia, while Thailand intends to establish the EEC-A as a center in Southeast Asia.
If the 2 airports can work together on flights, air freight and company matching for targeted markets, it will improve U-tapao airport, he stated.
According to Mr Kanit, the ZAEZ and the EEC have comparable commercial advancements such as electronic devices, biomedicine, air travel and food.
John D Kasarda, primary advisor to the ZAEZ, stated the task was developed by China’s State Council on March 2013 as a nationwide technique to promote worldwide combination, financial improvement and success in Henan province (with a population of 96 million) and its capital city, Zhengzhou, which has a population of 9.9 million.
The State Council intends to achieve this by developing the very first thoroughly prepared, deliberately developed aerotropolis in China.
Advancement of the ZAEZ represents a collective effort on the part of Henan province, the Zhengzhou town and the Civil Air Travel Administration of China. Management is dealt with by the administrative committee of the ZAEZ.
The ZAEZ has a 50-year advancement strategy based upon an anticipated population of 2.6 million, with 3 substantial advancements– company, transportation and city advancement– vital to success.
Throughout 2013-17, 334 significant tasks were settled, with overall set financial investment in 2017 alone reaching US$ 10 billion (32.8 billion baht).
Mr Kasarda stated massive markets’ included worth totaled up to $4.3 billion in 2017.
Integrated imports and exports were $50 billion in 2017, which ranked the ZAEZ initially in trade amongst China’s bonded zones, representing 65% of the overall worth of Henan province’s trade.
Contributing most to this financial development and trade rise is Foxconn, an agreement producer of Apple’s iPhone. Some 250,000 employees at Foxconn’s enormous ZAEZ factory produced 103 million iPhones in 2017, representing 50% of all iPhones offered worldwide.
By the end of 2017, an overall of 60 mobile phone producers were running in the ZAEZ, producing an overall of 299 million handsets– one-seventh of all smart devices produced worldwide.
More than 70 companies in the biomedical cluster were contracted to establish in the ZAEZ, 80% of which will start operations by 2019, with a projected yearly output worth of $1.5 billion.
The accuracy equipment market cluster brought in 14 companies with an overall financial investment of $5.1 billion, with yearly profits projection to reach $11.6 billion when these companies start complete operation.
Another market is electronic devices, with yearly profits anticipated to reach more than $19.3 billion at build-out.
The airplane production and upkeep market cluster brought in 5 companies with an overall financial investment $1.2 billion and yearly profits projection to reach $1.5 billion at complete operation.
Other sectors are the exhibit market, R&D and advanced company services.
” The ZAEZ was the very first and most effective aerotropolis in China to attend to company, multimodal transportation, airports and city advancement,” Mr Kasarda stated.
Pattaya is suitable to be become a centre of the EEC-A, as it is simply 30km from U-tapao airport, a commute that will take 17 minutes by high-speed train.
U-tapao air travel city covers 6,500 rai, consisting of 6 tasks consisting of the 3rd traveler terminal and airport centers, industrial locations, open market zone, air freight terminal, upkeep repair work and overhaul (MRO) and air travel training centre.
The EEC conference chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha dealt with on June 4 to establish the very first stage of the aerotropolis within 5 years to support relate to the high-speed rail linking Don Mueang, Suvarnabhumi and U-tapao airports.
The regards to referral are set up for auction through public-private collaboration (PPP) this month, with the winners anticipated to be revealed by January 2019.
The financial investment will remain in the type of the net expense PPP design, where the federal government will be accountable for land expropriation charges and the economic sector will purchase the rail system and supply operation and upkeep.
An initial research study approximated the internal rate of return for the U-tapao task at 10-12% and return on equity at 11-13%.
The very first stage of the 6,500-rai U-tapao airport and air travel centre will can managing 15 million travelers. Other tasks consist of a 2nd runway, a service zone, an MRO centre and air freight centers.
Mr Kanit stated the very first stage of the U-tapao aerotropolis need to be finished within 5 years, in line with the 224-billion-baht high-speed rail task that will connect the 3 primary airports to serve the EEC.
He stated the federal government likewise prepares to establish the Aerotropolis Institute next year after discovering financiers for substantial facilities tasks in the EEC, consisting of high-speed rail, U-tapao airport’s growth, and Laem Chabang and Map Ta Phut ports.
The Aerotropolis Institute will supply suggestions to the federal government on establishing the EEC-A over the next ten years, Mr Kanit stated.
The building website of a prepared exhibit centre at the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone.
An artist’s performance of the high-speed rail link to the ZAEZ.
