1. DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSION

The Thailand Airports 2000 mission will consist of two days of business briefings, technical presentations, company presentations and individual appointments between mission participants and Thai and foreign general contractors. There will be a third day of optional matchmaker meetings for NTM firms. All interested U.S. suppliers of airport construction materials, specialized airport terminal and ground support equipment, other airport equipment and services are invited to participate in this mission for one of Asia’s largest infrastructure projects. Participating firms in the mission will be seeking to become sub-contractors to supply construction materials, fixtures, specialized airport equipment and machinery (e.g., baggage handling and sorting systems, people movers, elevators, passenger bridges), airport information systems, etc., to the general contractors which will be submitting bids to construct the terminal. A number of major Thai contractors, as well as several large foreign construction companies, are expected to vie for this contract.

2. COMMERCIAL SETTING

Thailand’s construction of its long-awaited U.S.$ 3.5 billion Second Bangkok International Airport (SBIA) is finally moving ahead. While the construction of a new international airport outside of Bangkok has been under discussion for more than two decades, the Thai government’s aim to open the new airport in 2004 has given its construction new impetus. Now that site preparation and ground improvements for the first runway are nearly complete, planners are moving ahead with finalization of the terminal design and pre-qualification of construction contractors.

A U.S.-led consortium, Murphy/Jahn Tams ACT Associates (MJTA), hired in 1995 to design the passenger terminal, submitted a dramatic 550,000 square meter steel and glass structure designed by Helmut Jahn. While accepted by the New Bangkok International Airport Company (NBIA) Board, controversy has erupted as to whether the 42 billion baht budget (U.S.$ 1.2 billion) target for the passenger terminal and concourse can be met. As a result, the NBIA tender for the general contract to build the terminal is likely to seek bidders not only on the MJTA design, but also on an amended design intended to keep costs in line with the budget.

The bidding process on the passenger terminal and concourse construction contract is expected to occur this spring. Pre-qualification of interested general contractors will commence in early March and it is expected that a short-list of qualified contractors will be invited to bid on construction of the passenger terminal and concourse in late April or early May. Bids will be submitted 90 days thereafter and a contract award will be made later this year. NBIA projects construction of the terminal building to begin in January 2001. The contract to build the foundation and piling for the terminal has already been awarded. Additional contracts such as design and construction of the central utilities, ground facility development and on-site road network will also be tendered starting later this year. To date, nearly U.S.$ 2 billion in funding for the site preparation, runway and construction at the airport has been provided by general untied loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The Royal Thai Government’s goal is to develop SBIA as Southeast Asia’s regional aviation hub. Opinions are divided as to whether two airports will continue in operation with SBIA handling all international and some domestic flights and the current Bangkok International Airport (Don Muang) serving primarily as a domestic airport. By 2006, all scenarios call for SBIA to handle all domestic and international flights. The projected level of first year traffic at the new airport would be between 28 and 31 million passengers, compared to about 25 million current capacity at Don Muang. SBIA would have an initial annual capacity of 30 million passengers with future expansion plans to handle 70 million passengers. The projected cargo-handling capacity at the new airport will be 1.6 million tons per year, or roughly twice the current capacity at Don Muang.

3. GOALS FOR THE MISSION

The goals of the Thailand Airports 2000 trade mission are fourfold: 1) to allow U.S. manufacturers and service suppliers to have direct access to key officials from the New Bangkok International Airport Co. (NBIA) and their advisors involved in the procurement for the construction of the passenger terminal and concourse at the Second Bangkok International Airport, as well as other airport construction projects in Thailand; 2) to allow U.S. firms to have direct access to procurement executives of Thai and foreign construction firms that will be seeking subcontractors for the construction of the main terminal and concourse building; 3) to conduct a matchmaker session of NTM companies seeking representation in Thailand for purposes of pursuing this and other projects; and 4) to make a high-profile political statement of USG support for participation of American firms in the construction of the New Bangkok International Airport.

4. SCENARIO FOR THE MISSION

Post aims to recruit 20 participants for this mission. All will travel to Bangkok individually. The Event will begin at 8:30 am on Wednesday, April 26 at the Westin Hotel.

The basic agenda for the mission is: 1) to familiarize mission companies with Thailand and the SBIA airport project; 2) to introduce them to key officials (architects, NBIA, project managers) to go over technical specifications and details of the procurement process; and 3) to conduct a day-long business seminar where U.S. firms can make a presentation of their qualifications to general contractors seeking the terminal and concourse construction contract, followed by one-on-one meetings with the various contractors. The timing of the mission will allow companies the chance to negotiate directly with the general contractors as they are preparing their bid documents for the terminal contract. Additionally, the Mission will provide a separate session on other airport-related opportunities in Thailand. For new-to-market companies, we will offer a half-day of matchmaker appointments for firms to meet potential representatives in Thailand.

Format: The event will comprise two days of activities, with an additional half day of optional one-on-one matchmaker sessions for U.S. firms seeking new representation through partners and agents in Thailand. Day 1 will lead off with a breakfast briefing by CS Bangkok followed by a presentation by experts on doing business and the airport sector in Thailand. Following this would be an overview session with senior NBIA officials; a second session with the NBIA planning and procurement officials and with the airport architectural/design team; and smaller meetings with more specialized working-level NBIA officials. In the afternoon, there will be additional meetings with officials of the Airport Authority of Thailand, Aerothai and related agencies. We plan to have a meeting with the Minister of Transport and Communications, whose Ministry oversees the entire project. Day 1 will conclude with an Embassy reception hosted by Ambassador Richard Hecklinger in honor of the delegation.

Day 2 will consist of an all-day seminar. In the morning, the U.S. participants will make short presentations about their firms and capabilities to representatives of NBIA, their consultants and to Thai and foreign construction firms. The afternoon will consist of private one-on-one meetings between U.S. firms and representatives of the major Thai and foreign construction/engineering companies that will compete for the contract to build the main airport passenger terminal. At this session U.S. suppliers can introduce their capabilities in detail to each potential general contractor, since they will select subcontractors for the various component contracts in the construction of the terminal. Firms can follow up individually either later in the week or on future visits.

5. CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION OF COMPANIES

Any U.S. firm meeting the following criteria is welcome to participate in this event.

1. Relevance of a company’s business line to mission goals
2. Potential for business in Thailand
3. Timeliness of signed application and participation agreement by company (including participation fee of $400 plus an additional fee of $150 for those companies participating in the matchmaker session)
4. Provision of adequate information on company’s products and services, and company’s primary market objectives, in order to facilitate matchmaker with potential business partners.
5. Certification that the company’s products and/or services are manufactured or produced in the United States or, if not, are marketed under the name of U.S. firm and have at least 51 percent U.S. content

4. TIME FRAME FOR APPLICATIONS