Chanat Sorakraikitikul, chairman of finance and the risk management committee at Pranda Jewelry, said that Pranda belongs to the jewellery industry. The company has relied heavily on skilled labour and to date, Thailand has high craftsmanship and skilled labourers, who are able to make jewellery that are beautiful and refined. Thailand is still the important facility for Pranda’s high-skilled jewellery products to be exported to many significant markets around the world.
“We are positioning our facilities in Vietnam to be different from Thailand due to the difference in the labour skills in the country. Established in 1995, Vietnam will be our manufacturing base for exports of lower to middle-end jewellery products, such as Marcasite, mainly to America and Europe,” he said.
Pranda’s jewellery facility in Vietnam is now able to produce about 25,000 pieces of products per month or 300,000 pieces a year. The factory is now running at about 70 per cent of capacity due to recession in the jewellery business in Vietnam.
Chanat said the company would expand its investment in the Vietnamese facility to serve greater international trade potential once the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement comes into force.
Regarding other potential markets in CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), Chanat said at the moment the company did not have any plans for Myanmar. “Our feeling is that the country is very attractive since it has recently opened up but it is still not so appealing as a production base, compared to other stronger/lower cost countries such as India or Vietnam.
“We [Pranda Jewelry] will maintain our plan to be a world-class jewellery producer, with focus on mass craftsmanship, high quality and quantity.
“We are the partner of choice for leading jewellery companies |worldwide, providing both original design manufacturing and original brand manufacturing with an integrated network worldwide. Meanwhile, our retail network is one of the leading jewellery chain stores in Asean, covering six countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Myanmar) plus the Middle East,” said Chanat.
Pranda Jewelry posted Bt1.31 billion in total sales in the first six months of this year, up 5.4 per cent compared to Bt1.24 billion achieved in the first half of the last year. Meanwhile, sales in the second quarter increased by 26.3 per cent from the same period of last year due to increase in sales from new key accounts in production business and growth in retail business.
Based on consolidated revenue, 35 per cent are from domestic sales and 65 per cent from international. The company’s retail shops include franchisees and we have 184 points of sales – 87 in Thailand, 54 in Indonesia and nine in Vietnam. They also have a presence in Malaysia, Philippines, Dubai and Egypt.
In addition to Vietnam, Pranda Jewelry has factories in Thailand and Indonesia. The company has 2,800 skilled craftsmen in Thailand, 360 in Vietnam and 100 in Indonesia. In Indonesia, the factory will serve mainly potential markets in Northern Europe.
“We constantly look for new labour to replenish those that leave in Thailand. In Vietnam there is a possibility to expand in the near future if Vietnam gains more advantage in international trade such as through the TPP,” he said.