Kobkarn, 57, graduated in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Her work experiences includes being minister of tourism and sports, vice chair of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, president of the Thai-Japanese Association, member of KBank board of directors and chair of Toshiba Thailand. She is now a member of the Special Advisory Committee of the Prime Minister.

Patchara, 47, is a graduate of industrial management from the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and has an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He started his career at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Securities in the UK before working with Phatra Securities PCL and Merrill Lynch & Co in Australia and Thailand.

He was managing director of Kasikorn Asset Management Co Ltd, and began working with Kasikorn Bank in 2012, overseeing the SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) business division and serving as the acting head of the corporate business division.

He was later appointed to the corporate and retail business division, before being named the 11th KBank president.

Riding on digital economy trends, the company has established Ticon Technology and gone into partnership with ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, a leading data centre service provider headquartered in Singapore, to make inroads into data centre services. The joint venture plans to build a data centre in Bangkok.

Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, chair of the executive committee of Ticon Industrial Connection Pcl, said: “Thailand is in its transition to a fully fledged digital economy, as evident in the rising adoption of digital technologies and systems for greater competitiveness of companies across industries as well as in robust emergence of e-commerce and fintech industries in Thailand.

“The trend is also favoured by government policies, including the Thailand 4.0 economic model, digital economy master plan and high-speed internet infrastructure projects. As a result, the market for IT services has grown in leaps and bounds, especially the data centre market that is expected to double in size over the next three years,” Panote added.

“All these translate into a great opportunity for Ticon to expand into a new business, as well as to demonstrate its capability and reaffirm its status as the leading developer and total solutions provider of industrial properties.

“The board of directors has therefore resolved to set up Ticon Technology and approved its 51-49 joint venture with STT GDC, one of the world’s leading data centre providers for a full foray into this market,” Panote said.

Sopon Racharaksa, president of Ticon, said: “The establishment of Ticon Technology creates value-added on our existing offerings as the leading developer and total solutions provider of industrial properties. With Thailand’s biggest portfolio of factory and warehouse spaces totalling over 2.7 million square metres nationwide, we understand and can accurately meet customers’ demands across industries through our factory and warehouse services. In our expansion into this new business with our partner, STT GDC, we are confident of making fully fledged inroads into the Thai market for data centres.

“By expanding into the data centre business, we are entering a new business where our expertise remains highly relevant,” Sopon continued. “This expansion will broaden Ticon’s digital and technology services to meet the demands of Ticon’s customers. In addition, it marries Ticon’s strengths with STT GDC’s world-class expertise in data centre development to create synergies and growth potential. We have concrete plans to build a new data centre, complete with the state-of-the-art technologies and strategically located in Bangkok, due for completion by 2020.”

Bruno Lopez, STT central executive, said: “Partnering with Ticon, majority owned by Frasers Property and the TCC group, provides us with one of the strongest local networks, deep and intimate understanding of the Thai market, wide access to land banks as well as extensive experience in property development in the commercial and industrial space in the Greater Bangkok area and across Thailand.

“Coupled with our experience in designing, building and operating data centres, this strategic partnership allows us to further broaden our global data centre network and bolster our position as a leading data centre provider across the region together with our other strong, established bases in Asia – India, China and Singapore,” Lopez added.

“We are confident that combining Ticon’s local experience and knowhow with STT GDC’s commitment and global expertise will be an extremely valuable proposition to our customers and partners as they grow in Thailand and across the region.

“We look forward to working with Ticon’s management team and building this iconic data centre that will enable our customers’ growth opportunities in Thailand,” Lopez said.

Thai Namthip and Nostra said they were working together to develop innovative technology to meet rapid change, in line with the Thailand 4.0 initiative and wider, disruptive global trends.

Logistics is an industry that requires an essential adjustment, according to Thai Namthip. The key is to manage the routes and reduce the cost, distance and time taken to deliver the goods from the warehouse to the customer with reduced time and resources. The cost incurred from logistics has a tremendous impact on business, Thai Namthip says. With the implementation of technology, the company will significantly improve in terms of the transport efficiency, which results in greater accuracy, operational safety and reliability, it said.

Thai Namthip Co Ltd, manufacturer of beverages under the Coca-Cola brand, has over 50 years of experience in logistics and distribution throughout the country.

Despite being praised as a leading logistics company, Thai Namthip has been looking for tools and solutions to address the profound effect technology has had on business competition. For the past three years, the firm said tools had empowered Thai Namthip’s employees, reduced logistical issues and enabled the firm to satisfy customers.

Phisit Phongphu, deputy logistics managing director at the firm, said the use of technology to manage the logistics and distribution enabled it to set firm targets for organising distribution centres and serve thousands of shops throughout the country.

Thai Namthip said it was also preparing an effective tracking system that would improve the efficiency of the distribution system, including timing, routing, staffing and other factors.

Phisit said: “By improving our tracking and monitoring system, transport and distribution, we did research and found that the ready-to-use systems from global companies might not fit well with Thai Namthip. Some are too large and many are costly. They did not fit the particular needs and quality we expected. Then we realised that the layout of our system must be different from others and we decided to develop a system that truly was compatible with our actual needs.”

SookSiam complies with the Thailand 4.0 policy, aimed at promoting a knowledge-based society and being the stage for local entrepreneurs and villagers from the 77 provinces to gather and share their know-how on product development, local wisdoms and business practices. They will be supported by Thailand’s 50 champion brands, which will provide modern management techniques.

The retail venue will open at the same time as the ICONSIAM retail complex in October this year. Costing Bt54 billion, the construction of ICONSIAM is 85 per cent complete and is expected to draw 22 million visitors a year.

Located on a 10-rai plot with15,000 square metres of space, Sook Siam can cater to 300 to 400 local entrepreneurs at one time. About 3,000 small entrepreneurs and villagers will rotate for the use of space at the retail venue every year.

Chadatip Chutrakul, chief executive officer of Siam Piwat Co Ltd and a director of ICONSIAM, said the company has dedicated almost the entire ground floor of 15,000 square metres at ICONSIAM to ‘SookSiam’, showcasing the best products, services and artistic creations from all Thai provinces at one destination in a dramatic, new ‘co-creation’ format that is immersive, emotional, and entertaining.

“The new retail attraction is a part of ICONSIAM’s commitment to bring all that makes Thailand great to the world. It will help small enterprise owners, artisans, artists, and performers access a globally visible, omni-channel platform on which to present their creations and be integrated into a greater commercial ecosystem. This will help the local heroes become national heroes and global heroes” she said.

With the overall Thai economy increasing by approximately 3.8 per cent annually, the sales of community products are growing significantly – by 15 and 23 per cent respectively over the past two years.

Chadatip said SookSiam is conceived as a place to present the cultural heritage of the four regions of Thailand, capturing their arts, handicrafts, performing arts, and local wisdom. In SookSiam, there are outlets of varying types built in the style of their respective regions, highlighting their individual specialties, whether they be crafts, foods, beverages, or services that are unique to that region.

“We have created SookSiam as a strategy for local SMEs and entrepreneurs from all regions to share their knowledge on product development and business practices and learn from the others ,” said Chadatip, adding that revenue from selling the community products will be shared between the company and those participating entrepreneurs under a profit-sharing model.

SookSiam is being produced and curated by Luckana Naviroj, the mastermind behind the success of the Gourmet Market stores as well as the Food Halls at Siam Paragon and other malls. She is known for her expertise in sourcing authentic products and foodstuffs from around Thailand that are the best of their kind and for her understanding of how to work with small mom-and-pop operations and individual artisans. She has played an important role for more than 30 years in helping farmers and artisans develop their capabilities.

Luckana said the outlets in SookSiam all have their counterpart in small towns in Thailand, and that many of them are enterprises that have been operated by several generations of the same family.

“We travelled the entire country to find these unique shops, artisans, and artists, and invited them to SookSiam. SookSiam will serve as an extraordinary platform onto which people – the “local heroes” from around the country, can place their talents and products, and draw global attention as well as expanding sales opportunities, 365 days a year.

“Thai and foreign visitors to SookSiam will have the opportunity to view and purchase these exciting and special products that have been hidden away in small towns and villages in the country,” she said.

Telenor is a foreign strategic partner of Total Access Communication (DTAC).

Telenor’s partnership with DTAC goes back 18 years and it is now the group’s second-biggest revenue contributor.

Brekke said that the global telecom industry was changing significantly and all operators, including Telenor group, were positioning themselves for the future by transforming their organisations to become full digital-service providers.

He said that Telenor group was making itself much leaner, more cost-efficient, and much more digital and dynamic to prepare itself for the future. The group has also deployed advanced technologies, such as data analytics and artificial intelligence, to better serve customers. Brekke met Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak yesterday to discuss how DTAC can support Thailand’s digital transformation process.

Brekke also discussed with Somkid issues concerning plans for a partnership involving the 2.3GHz spectrum.

DTAC is waiting for the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) to finish examining its partnership contract with the TOT to develop a fourth-generation wireless broadband service on the TOT’s 2.3-gigahertz spectrum.

The TOT granted the partnership deal to DTAC in May 2017. The OAG’s completion of its examination of the contract would pave the way for both partners to enter into the 2.3GHz partnership contract.

Brekke said that Somkid committed to help by looking into the matter as he understood its importance not only to DTAC but also to the TOT.

Regarding the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission’s (NBTC) plan to auction DTAC’s 1800MHz spectrum after the company’s concession under CAT Telecom ends in mid-September, Brekke said that he was a little confused because the NBTC had seemed to change its mind again on the number of the planned available licences in the upcoming auction.

In a recent public hearing on the auction draft rules, DTAC and some other participants recommended that the watchdog divide this 45MHz bandwidth into nine licences each with 5MHz bandwidth. They were responding to the NBTC’s original plans for three licences each with 15MHz bandwidth. The split into nine licences would make it more flexible for the auction, the operators said.

After the hearing, the NBTC office proposed for the board’s consideration that the watchdog auction nine licences each with 5MHz. The board is yet to look into this proposal.

However, NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith this week said he would propose to the board for its consideration on April 11 that the watchdog reinstate the original auction plan.

Thailand eSports Arena will be a digital sport battlefield for everyone and will open to the public in June this year.

Gaming used to be deemed as a problem, but the company is showing them now that it can be a national agenda. In 2022, eSports will be a part of Asian Games. Opening Thailand eSports Arena would pave the way for Thai eSports athletes to take part in regional and global tournaments, said Jirayod Theppipit, CEO and Founder of Infofed.

“Entering eSports industry for a VR content specialist like us reflects that Infofed dares to do things that none of the industry players have done. We truly believe in the potential of eSports in Thailand, where the growth is exponential. We are ready to be a driving force and to support 1.1 million eSports athletes in Thailand,” he said.

 Target customers are entrepreneurs who aspire to make investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) covering Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong provinces. And those who aim for business start-ups, business expansion or business transformation in Special Economic Zones (SEZ), border provinces, industrial estates, industrial parks and industrial zones of both public and private sectors, he said.

Today, EEC houses 29 industrial estates with a total investment value of more than US$505 billion. It is the production base of more than 3,700 factories and the centre of automobile and parts and petrochemicals manufacturing where entrepreneurs are eligible for a range of benefits, including tax breaks and other investment incentives and facilities, he said.

EXIM Special Zone Credit is a long-term credit facility for business investment or expansion with a special rate of the prime rate -1.75 per cent per year (equal to 4.50 per cent) in years 1-3, combined with a revolving credit for liquidity enhancement with a maximum credit line of 1.5 times the long-term credit amount.

Interest rate is offered at not exceeding prime rate -1.50 per cent per year(equal to 4.75 per cent pa) with a minimum rate of 4 per cent. Maximum loan tenor is 15 years, including a grace period of up to 2 years.

Entrepreneurs with investment in the EEC will further be eligible for interest rate reduction by another 0.25 per cent per year.

    At the end of year 2017, Big Sea Co Ltd recorded a total revenue of Bt596 million and Bt110 million in net profit.

Prima Marine Plc recorded a total revenue of Bt4.69 billion and Bt717 million in net profit last year, according to the company’s report to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.