The cabinet meeting on March 9, 2010 has come to the following decision:
The Cabinet agreed:
1. Draft of announcement on areas posing risk to the Kingdom's internal security.
2. Draft of announcement on authority for officials to perform their duties according to the 2008 Internal Security Act who need to be law enforcement officers.
3. Drafts of 3 regulations, issued under article 18 of the 2008 Internal Security Act, invoked from March 11 to March23, 2010 (in Bangkok and certain districts in neighbouring provinces). They have been forwarded to the Office of Council of State to scrutinise and then to proceed.
4. When the event ends, relevant agencies are required to compile a report and send it to the Internal Security Operative Command which will forward all the reports to the Prime Minister, who will report to the House of Representatives and the Senate, as required by the article 15 paragraph 2 of the 2008 Internal Security Act.
The Cabinet approved the following proposals from the Ministry of Finance.
1. Creative economy projects under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012", valued at 1 billion Baht in total, were approved with the condition that refers to a case in which any project is obliged to proceed under specific rules and regulations, the agency responsible for the project will have to strictly follow the laws and regulations.
2. Allocation of borrowing from the 2009 Rehabilitation and Stabilisation of the Economy plan to the reserve budget, set at one billion Baht, was approved. This is in compliance with the Ministry of the Office of the Prime Minister's ministerial regulation on the management of the "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012" projects. According to point 5.1, the Budget Bureau has been assigned to consider the appropriateness of the project's detail, activities, and expenses. Nonetheless, agencies with projects having been approved are obliged to send in report, which includes operational plan and spending plan, to the Budget Bureau for budget allocation by March 31, 2010. The Budget Bureau will in turn proceed to grant approval within 15 working days, and after the approval is granted, the agency has to sign the contract within 15 working days.
3. Adjustments to the detail of projects under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012" were approved, according to the implication of the second point.
4. The cabinet resolution on February 9, 2010, was under reviewed. The issue that was reviewed, specifically, is the repayment of the interest incurred from the loan for the 2008-2009 agricultural mortgage scheme of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), whose outstanding interest repayment is 1.706 billion Baht. The loan has been guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance, and the government has been held liable to the loan. Also, the Ministry of Finance and BAAC jointly considered the source of loan, method, terms, and other detail. The Budget Bureau was assigned to allocate fund to repay the interest and the principal as well as other costs incurred from the loan, according to the implication of the third point.
5. Extension of the deadline for reports on budget allocation for projects under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012" was approved and set to December 31, 2010, as implied in the fourth point.
Synopsis
The Ministry of Finance reported that the committee on selection and management of projects under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012" has the duty to direct the implementation of projects so that they can be in line with the plan and objectives approved by the cabinet which considered issues related to the management of projects under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012". The following was proposed to the cabinet.
Creative Economy Project
The National Creative Economy committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, has requested the committee to allocate one billion Baht from the 2009 economic rehabilitation and stabilisation decree that is within the Ministry of Finance's authority. The fund, necessary to the operation of Creative Economy projects, will be used to achieve all four obligations set by the government. The committee was assigned to consider 1.384 billion Baht of budget to support the projects that the committee has selected to invest under "Thailand: Investing from Strength to Strength 2012".
The Cabinet approved in principle that all ministries and government agencies give cooperation, by informing their officials and complying with requests from survey officials from the National Statistics Office, to the 2010 demographic survey. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology would also coordinate with each ministry for detail, as proposed by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
The Cabinet approved in principle to assign the Ministry of Finance, via Neighboring Countries Economic Development Cooperation Agency (Public Organisation) (NEDA), to provide financial support to Lao People's Democratic Republic for improvements for R3 road, valued at 405 million Baht. NEDA was assigned to take a loan from the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and Government Saving Bank, with loan term being support for Lao People's Democratic Republic as the principle of the loan contract, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
The Cabinet approved the following proposals by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
1. Thailand is to jointly host of the First Mekong River Commission Summit (1st MRC Summit) with the office of Mekong River Commission Secretary General from April 2 to April 5, 2010. (4 days) at Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.
2. Setting up committee overseeing security for leaders attending the summit, with Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs as the chairman, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources as deputy chairman while the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources as secretary general.
3. Budget is to allocated from fiscal year 2010 central budget for reserve or emergency, and is set at 103,568,360 Baht.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) March 9, 2010--