Qiang said that it would not be too late for Thailand, if the commercial service was launched in that time. The availability of a 5G service was not dependent only on the allocation of the spectrum bands to telecom operators to provide services, he said, but requires the collaboration of all related parties and all industries to ensure a fast uptake of the service.

Industry will be the major user of 5G services, including for those involved in the emerging “smart farming”, connected vehicle and smart cities sectors.

Huawei will launch its first 5G mobile phones in the global market next year, Qiang said. The company is China’s leading information and communications technology solution provider.

Huawei is holding an invitation-only Huawei Mobile Thailand Congress 2018 from yesterday to April 5 at its Customer Solution Innovation and Integration Experience Centre (CSIC) in Huawei’s new Bangkok offices on Pharam 9 Road. The event is presenting technologies and solutions including 5G, the “all-cloud” network, and Internet of things (IoT) technologies.

Qiang said that the event is essential for the company to demonstrate the importance of joining Huawei in its efforts to create a healthy ecosystem that will create fresh opportunities, businesses, services and applications. They hope to attract their most important potential industry partners in Thailand, as well as leading industry organisations and institutions, operators, and other stakeholders.

NBTC commissioner Prawit Leesatapornwongsa said at the same event yesterday that US, Europe, China, Japan, and South Korea are expected to be among the first wave of countries to debut the commercial 5G service. Thailand can be in the second wave of the commercial launch of 5G service, if the country has continued to advance on implementing its Thailand 4.0 policy, he added.

Prawit said that the coming of the 5G service does not mean it would replace the existing 4G service here. Therefore, Thai telecom operators will consider carefully before making an investment in the 5G technology as they will also have to carry the cost of maintaining their 4G networks as well.

Grab chief executive and co-founder Anthony Tan yesterday said Singapore-based Grab would integrate Uber’s ride-sharing and food-delivery business in the region into its multi-modal transport and financial technology (fintech) platform.

With the combined business, Grab, which has a high profile in Thailand, aims to be the region’s No 1 online-to-offline mobile platform and a major player in food delivery.

Tan said Grab provides safe and affordable transport, food and package deliveries, mobile payments and financial services. These will be extended as it takes over Uber’s operations and assets in Thailand. Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.

As part of the acquisition, Uber will take a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab and Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.

“I would like to personally share with you some of my strongest beliefs, to reaffirm our commitment as a team to our community, as well as to offer a glimpse of what the future holds,” said Tarin Thaniyavarn, country head of Grab Thailand, in a statement released yesterday.

“First of all, as a Southeast Asian and Thai, I believe that this development is a major milestone for all of us, and not just from my perspective as the country head of Grab Thailand,” he said.

“After all, Grab is a Southeast homegrown start-up which started its business in the region less than six years ago and in Thailand, five years ago. Who would have thought that we would be where we are today?

“We are now on track towards our goal of becoming the No1 ride-hailing, food delivery and fintech platform in Southeast Asia, an achievement for all of us as Southeast Asians across eight countries and 195 cities in the region.

“Our partnership with Uber will only fuel our drive and passion to serve our community better. We have always believed – and still believe – that we need to keep outdoing ourselves at every stage in order to earn the right to serve them. If anything, this union strongly affirms that our commitment to put the needs of our customers and driver-partners first is the right one.”

He expects this combination will “drive a better experience for our community” of drivers and users.

“With a greater concentration of jobs and available drivers, we expect to see shorter wait-times and faster pick-ups. This would mean better productivity for our drivers, and better reliability for our passengers,” Tarin. “New Grab users will be able to benefit from our unique features such as GrabRewards for passengers and Better365’for driver-partners. GrabRewards makes our users’ experience more rewarding.

“Meanwhile, our Better365 enables our drivers to enjoy better benefits, support and opportunities to engage with other driver-partners through special periodical workshops, sports day and get-together events. We are so excited to be given this opportunity to serve you all.”

Tarin said the company would be pushing towards its next stage of growth. “This would come from serving Thais in all their most important daily needs, whether to ride, pay, dine or earn more for their families,” he said. “Today, we are already serving 90 million Southeast Asians, and empowering more than five million micro-entrepreneurs – driver-partners, merchants and agents – across the region to earn more.”

TMB Bank Plc (TMB) is committed to develop quality financial products to meet the needs and changing lifestyles of customers, aiming to enable its clients to “Get More with TMB” out of life. The bank recently announced a special campaign to offer “TMB Cash2Go” personal loans at an extra low-interest rate of only 9 per cent per year for the first three months.

Moreover, customers who transact via “TMB All Free” deposit account at least five times a month and use TMB direct debit service, will get a 3 per cent discount from the normal rate from the 4th month onwards throughout the tenor. For example, a customer with Bt30,000 salary/month will pay only 18 per cent interest a year, instead of 21 per cent.

MIT GSW event marks first for Thailand

A collaboration between Sasin School of Management, MIT GSW, and the MIT Association of Thailand, a three-day conference is being held on March 26-27 at the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at Central World, and at Sasin School of Management on March 28.

MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW) is the premier global training and networking event for entrepreneurs. Since 1998, MIT GSW has hosted its conferences in a different location each year, and for the first time, MIT GSW 2018 is taking place in Thailand. This year’s theme is “dream big, dream tech, tools for innovation-driven entrepreneurship.”

This year’s conference features a range of exciting speakers from the US, Europe, and across Southeast Asia, and an intriguing schedule of timely panel discussions about startups, technology, and the future of business.

Paron Israsena Na Ayudhya, director of Sasin School of Management, said this event brings the best of MIT to Thailand and sets them loose in no-holds-barred debates with the leading entrepreneurs of Southeast Asia.

L Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also expressed his support for holding the event in Bangkok.

“For 20 years, the Global Startup Workshop has brilliantly advanced the Iinstitute’s dedication to research, innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration. By bringing together cross-sector experts and leaders, GSW has built a global support network, empowering and accelerating entrepreneurship in emerging markets, from Seoul to Madrid, Cape Town to Santiago and now Bangkok. At GSW 2018, we will dream big. And together, we will make a better world.”

Thai Union’s Tuna Slices wins top award

Yellowfin Tuna Slices, the newest seafood innovation from Thai Union’s Global Innovation Incubator (GII), has recently received the 2018 Seafood Excellence Award in the Best New Foodservice Product category at Boston’s Seafood Expo.

The pre-seasoned, ready-to-eat tuna slices, made from whole yellowfin tuna loins, has been voted the best new food service product by a panel of seafood experts. It beat the other three finalists to win the award due to its uniqueness and appropriateness to the market, taste, packaging, convenience, nutritional value and originality.

The new prdoct is now being rolled out across the US under the Chicken of the Sea brand.

Daily Chiang Mai-Hanoi service

Bangkok Airways said yesterday it is now flying daily between Chiang Mai and Hanoi with a 70-seat ATR72-500/600 aircraft.

Flight PG995 departs Chiang Mai International Airport at 9.55am and arrives at Noi Bai International Airport at noon.

Flight PG996 departs Hanoi at 12.45pm and reaches Chiang Mai at 2.50pm.

Developer eyes four residential projects

Listed property firm Everland Plc is planning up to four residential projects worth a combined Bt2 billion along Bangna-Suksawas Road.

It also aims to boost revenues by 15 per cent this year, chairman Swechak Lochaya said on Monday.

As of the end of 2017, the company had total revenue of Bt725.44 million against a net loss for the year of Bt278.91 million.

Joint push for SME entry to the world

CloudCommerce, a startup company from dtac Accelerate Batch 4 project, announced its cooperation with Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) to tap groups of SME customers. It has received investment funds from dtac Accelerate, Intania Open Innovation Club (IOIC) and 500 TukTuks and is ready to set goals for over 20,000 users this year.

Wootinun Sungong, CloudCommerce founder, said he is certain that CloudCommerce will play a major role to push Thai SMEs forward and succeed on the international level.

The main feature of CloudCommerce is the system that connects SME product data with the online markets globally, making entrance into the global market easy. Furthermore, it connects the logistic system in order to help reducing production cost and shipping time. It also helps provide an opportunity in business growth for customers. FastShip, a logistic platform which was launched early last year, has received such a satisfying feedback. There are currently over 5,000 users.

The company has received investment funds from the top three start-up funds – dtac Accelerate, Intania Open Innovation Club and 500 TukTuks – and is ready to set goals for over 20,000 users this year.

Wootinun Sungong, CloudCommerce founder, said he was certain that his start-up would play a major role in pushing Thai small and medium-sized enterprises forward and succeeding at the international level.

The main feature of CloudCommerce is the system that connects the SME product data with online markets globally, which makes entering the global market easy.

Furthermore, it connects the logistic system in order to help reduce production costs and shipping times.

It also helps provide an opportunity for business growth for customers, Wootinun said, citing fellow start-up FastShip.co, a logistics platform that was launched early last year and has received satisfying feedback, with more than 5,000 users currently.

Sompoat Chansomboon, director of Business Innovation at dtac Accelerate, said that according to Techsauce Thailand, the Thai e-commerce market saw overall income of more than US$2.9 billion (Bt90.3 billion) last year and had an expected average annual 14.5-per-cent growth rate, which would result in sales of $5.8 billion in 2022 and $11.1 billion in 2025.

The biggest e-commerce business segment in the market is electronics, which saw income of $1.2 billion last year.

CloudCommerce and Fastship.co are start-up businesses that both have a 150-per-cent growth rate and traction via their platforms of over Bt20 million.

Both play major a role in the Thai e-commerce system as an important tool for e-commerce and logistics, the dtac Accelerate director said.

Wootinun has been in the e-commerce field for more than 15 years, together with experts who have a great deal of experience in e-commerce, which has generated Sompoat’s trust in CloudCommerce and its founder from the very beginning.

As the supervisor who takes care of start-up competitors in dtac Accelerate, he said he was proud to see CloudCommerce achieving a high growth rate and generating faith and trust in investors like 500 TukTuks –run by Chulalongkorn University – and other partners worldwide.

Li Feng, chairman and chief executive officer of Hong Kong-based CMI, and Wu Weitao, president of Huawei’s Southeast Asia Region, attended the ceremony.

The collaboration between the two companies is aimed at consolidating cloud-network synergy cooperation to develop the Southeast Asian market.

CMI and China-based Huawei Cloud International will leverage their respective advantages and take the lead in developing cloud-network synergy cooperation in Southeast Asia, providing one-stop, high-quality cloud+connection services for large enterprises with cross-border business requirements, they announced.

This will help enterprises achieve easy migration to the cloud and provides secure and reliable global connectivity.

Development areas include the public cloud platform, cloud connection platform, hybrid cloud and IDC, CMI’s chief executive said at the signing ceremony.

Grab chief executive and co-founder Anthony Tan said in a press release that Grab would integrate Uber’s ridesharing and food-delivery business in the region into its existing multi-modal transportation and fintech platform.

With the combined business, Grab aims to be the region’s No 1 online-to-offline mobile platform and a major player in food delivery.

Tan said Grab provides safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services.

These will be extended as it takes over Uber’s operations and assets in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

As part of the acquisition, Uber will take a 27.5-per-cent stake in Grab and Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi will join Grab’s board.

Swedish Ambassador Staffan Herrstrom this week opened the first Fitness24Seven gym in Thailand, at the Summer Hill Project in Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district.

Chief executive Christian Ask and country manager Natalia Folbrycht were at his side.

The Sweden-based gym chain allows members to design their own workout routines and access the facility 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With their membership card they can access all Fitness24Seven gyms worldwide.

There is a variety of gym equipment, group training classes and a Women Gym area, all for Bt1,299 per month.

ETDA chief voted to lead the way to 4.0

Executive directors of 39 public organisations have voted for Surangkana Wayuparb, executive director of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, to chair directors’ meetings for two years.

The meetings are held to help public organisations cope with the disruption of digital technologies and ready for the Public Organization 4.0 plan.

Nivea maker expands production facility

Beiersdorf, owner of skincare products including Nivea and Eucerin, has begun a €47.4-million (Bt1.8-billion) expansion of its factory in Bangkok’s Bangplee district.

More than 700 people work at the office and production centre where Nivea and Eucerin are manufactured for the Thai market and for export to 43 other countries.

“This reflects Beiersdorf’s commitment to doubling production performance in order to support demand in the region,” said Markus Daburger of Beiersdorf Thailand.

“We appreciate the ongoing support of the government and local agencies in our expansion project, which not only sees the production line expand, but also our Beiersdorf family, as up to 200 new jobs will be created in the coming years. We are proud to say that the operation in Thailand is now the company’s second-biggest hub after Germany.”

‘Cardio’ ready for launch

JD Pools is ready to launch “Cardio Pool” a new swimming pool innovation in response to new consumer lifestyle that comes with water exercise instruction manuals.

The expectation is to drive total sales this year to Bt900 million, a 12 per cent growth from last year.

Thanusak Phuangdet, chairman and managing director of JD Pools Group, said the industry caters to a niche market of high income consumers who want a private pool at home. Nowadays, the pools are cheaper and the market is bigger and there are new segments to satisfy various needs of consumers , including hotel, resort , tourism as well as those who love water sports and consumers who want a swimming pool for social values.

Panitta Srikeaw, the owner and managing director of Pranee Food 2015 Co Ltd, is looking ahead to a boost in business after the production plant is awarded certificates for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) this year.

“Currently, our products are already exported by our suppliers who place orders with us for our krayasat, but it goes out under their own brands to countries in Asean and Europe,” Panitta said at interview with The Nation.

“Now, we plan to export by ourselves and for that, we need to get GMP and HACCP certification. We aim to get the licences for them this year. Then we will export our products under our brand, Pranee Krayasat, to the European and Asean markets this year.”

Krayasat is a Thai traditional snack that is produced from rice, coconut, sugar and sesame, and is best known for being served during the Buddhist Lent period. Nowadays, though, Thais are happy to eat the snack throughout the year and it is regarded as a souvenir product from the country’s Northeast.

Panitta said the business idea was inspired by her mother Pranee’s practice of preparing the dish for sale as part of celebrations for Buddhist Lent. It quickly became popular with the local people and tourists who visit the province. As a result, her mother decided to keep cooking throughout the year and that led to sales reaching an average of Bt1 million to Bt2 million a month.

Then Panitta joined her mother in the business after she graduated from secondary school.

Panitta decided to develop more versions of the dish, expanding from the original recipe to encompass 10 flavours and working on building up the brand as Pranee Krayasat,

Panitta devoted attention to matters such as packaging and this led to sales growth in the double digits, for an average of Bt23 million a year.

Buoyed by that success in the domestic market, Panitta said that she decided to establish Pranee Food 2015 Co Ltd in 2015 with registered capital of Bt1 million under an ultimate goal of exporting under the house brand. The initial exposure to overseas markets came from supplying its customers with krayasat for sale under their own brands to markets such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and Asean.

“If we can sell our products under our brand that will help us to increase our sales value and improve the sustainability of our business,” Panitta said. “As a result, we invested Bt3.7 million last year to upgrade our manufacturing plant and repackaging facilities, while also applying to get GMP and HACCP certification for exports under our own brand.

“Our focus is on Asean countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos. We also expect to export to Europe, too, by developing our products to become a snack that is easy for foreigners to eat.”

With last year’s investment, Panitta said she is confident that the business will enjoy double-digit growth in 2019, following the start of exports to Asean and European markets.

Retired Brazilian footballer Roberto Carlos has been named as global brand ambassador of Malaysia-based carrier AirAsia.

“No one embodies the dare to dream spirit like Roberto Carlos,” said AirAsia Group chief executive Tony Fernandes.

“From playing on the streets of Garca and deciding to be a professional footballer at 12 to the amazing free kick against France and winning the World Cup, he has shown that when he wants something, he will see it through to the end,” Fernandes said yesterday.

“We couldn’t be more proud to have such a fighter in our roster of world champion brand ambassadors.”

He was also part of the team that won the 2002 World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan.

At club level, playing for Real Madrid, Carlos won four Spanish La Liga titles as well as the UEFA Champions League three times, in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

“In Brazil, we say, ‘because we suffer so much, we value football’. This shows you can succeed no matter where you come from, as long as you believe and work hard,” said Carlos.

“I am thrilled to represent a brand like AirAsia, which prides itself in making dreams come true.”

The announcement was made at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral with AirAsia Malaysia chief executive Riad Asmat and AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail in attendance. – The Star