Thai government has approved a broad draft regulation on megaproject investment in which part of restrictions on foreign companies' bidding for contracts were removed, local press reported Wednesday.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngarm, restrictions such as budget constraints or requiring barter trade would be lifted as the government wanted to bring in the best technical expertise from foreign investors.

Technical proposals for investment bidding will be considered by a high-level

committee in each ministry before being forwarded to a national screening committee, which would be headed by the prime minister and composed of public and private representatives, government spokesman Surapong Seubwonglee was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying.

For projects valued at more than one billion baht (25 million U. S. dollars), small projects requiring high technology or upgrading infrastructure, tenders will be called on the internet and all screening will be completed through live television and radio broadcast to ensure transparency, the spokesman said.

About 1,000 foreign companies are expected to attend a brief on Thursday for projects including basic infrastructure, national resources, defense systems, information and technology.

The Thai cabinet also gave green light to revised e-auction rules aims to root out bidding collusion. The proposed terms of reference for projects will be posted on the internet for at least three days before being officially announced for public comment and avoid fixing of speculations by contractors.

Statistics showed that the kingdom's total investment on megaprojects could exceed 1.7 trillion baht (42.5 billion U.S. dollars) if the foreign debt ratio remains below 50 percent GDP and repayment debt ratio to GDP at 16 percent.