Big C Supercentre, in conjunction with Buakaw Banchamek, have officially launched a wide range of sports equipment under the Banchamek brand, featuring more than 500 locally made items on sale only at Big C Supercentre stores.

Veerachart Khamglad, vice president of commercial home line, Big C Supercentre, the retail unit of Berli Jucker, said: “Big C is proud to be a Thai mall. We aim to develop a variety of quality products at reasonable prices, to meet the needs of our customers. In line with the government’s policy, we will embrace the approach of ‘Sustainable Thai’ to improve the quality and standard of life among Thais. Banchamek is a quality product, made of good materials and sold at affordable prices.”

Big Meet the products of sports brand “Banchamek” starting price at only 99 baht, such as T-shirts, boxing gloves, boxing shorts, water bottles, keychains more than 500 items available at 10 Big C stores and plans to expand nationwide. Big C is confident that this launch is well received by consumers. The goal is to increase sales to over 100 million in one year and to be ready to support the development of Thai products for more details visit http://www.BigC.co.th or facebook: BigCBigService

Xu said at the recent Huawei Analysis Summit 2018 event that the Chinese technology giant would build a fully connected, intelligent world through sustained investment in AI while focusing on information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices.

“Digital and AI technologies have created real benefits for people, for our lives at homes, and for organisations,” he said at the forum in Shenzhen, in China’s Guangdong province. “It’s also clear that we face many challenges ahead. Despite all these gaps and challenges, our industry is in the midst of a great opportunity.”

Xu said the firm’s investments would drive the convergence of the digital and physical worlds, unlock new potential, and cultivate greater intelligence for everyone.

“Just imagine, when every person on earth has a smartphone linking all smart devices, we will all have full access to the digital world. This will bring whole new experiences and value in life,” he said.

“We are working to incorporate AI throughout our entire network solution portfolio. We will continue advancing towards self-driving networks and addressing the industry pain points, including inefficiency and high costs.”

According to Xu, the firm is working hard to make the leap from smart to truly intelligent devices. In December 2016, it released a phone with intelligent functions – Honor Magic. Last year, it released the Kirin 970, a mobile phone chipset with an embedded neural processing unit. This chipset is used in all its flagship smartphones, including the Mate 10 and the recently launched P20 series.

“This has significantly improved the experience across a number of user scenarios, including photography and voice processing,” Xu said.

The firm has built the HiAI platform that opened up our AI capabilities across three layers – cloud, devices, and chipsets – to enable its partners around the world to leverage the AI processing power of its chips and develop all kinds of new applications. This platform enables industry partners to develop “a limitless array” of AI applications.

Cloud services

Additionally, the firm has introduced AI-enabled services to Huawei Cloud, which forms the basis of its enterprise intelligence (EI) platform where all types of organisations, including enterprises and governments alike, can use AI to develop new products and services.

“Last year we clarified our position on AI as an enabling technology. Our aim was to use it to improve the competitiveness of the products and solutions we provide to our customers,” Xu said. “After another year of exploration, we have decided to integrate AI into our smart devices, networks, and cloud.”

Xu pledged to continue investing in AI. He said the firm would announce its complete AI strategy, along with a set of full-stack AI solutions for all scenarios at the Huawei Connect event, to be held in Shanghai later this year.

“We build a full-stack AI solution, and then through the offline team that engages with enterprises and our Huawei Cloud, we bring different AI services to all of our enterprise customers and application developers (companies and individuals), so that they have access to AI capabilities to solve their problems and challenges,” he said.

“We use AI in every aspect of Huawei’s operations to see if AI can add value,” Xu said. “Through this internal experiment, we try to identify the possible value of AI in a company’s finance, human resources, services, supply chain, and R&D, etc. These capabilities and experiences are then incorporated into our AI solution, while at the same time being made available to enterprise customers. Therefore, we have been pushing the application of AI technology in every part of our internal operations to improve efficiency.”

Xu said the firm would fully invest in 5G, and in the second half of this year it would be able to come up with end-to-end 5G solutions to meet the needs of certain customers.

In the third quarter of next year, it will launch a mobile phone that supports 5G to meet the needs of early-adopter consumers.

They established Pac Corporation (Thailand) Co Ltd in 2016 to enable a clearer focus on their plans to develop water heaters that make use of air-conditioning systems. That decision has paid off, with their product, Pac Frenergy, generating sales of Bt70 million a year. And the pair have also had success with exports of the innovative system.

“After I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Kasetsart University, I started out in my career as an employee in a business for about one year,” Atchara, 39, the company’s managing director, said in an interview with The Nation recently.

“Then I decided to work in my family’s business, which is engaged in setting up air-conditioning systems and had found a way to heat the recovery water for a heating system, too.”

After she began working in the family business, Atchara and her younger brother Apichat, who is the company’s business development director, hit on the idea of separating the business lines in 2016 so that they could concentrate on research and development for the water heaters that make use of the hot air from air conditioners.

“My family business took a long time to develop the technology that underpins the use of the hot air from air conditioners for water heaters,” Atchara said. “Then my brother and I decided to set up our business to focus on creating innovative products with this novel use of the hot air that would otherwise go to waste.

“We set about designing such products that match the demands of customers, especially those in the commercial market, such as hotels and resorts.”

Atchara lays the credit for the clever application of the hot air from air conditioners to spawn a new product line with her brother, who designed the water heater. Apicaht, 36, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang.

The water heating system, drawing on the otherwise wasted heat generated by air conditioners, achieves energy savings on two fronts: a 100 per cent reduction in electricity costs from the water heater and a reduction of up to 20 per cent on the air conditioners, Atchara said.

With the pair’s initial success, they have gained intellectual property rights from the Commerce Ministry for the innovation, identified by its full name as PAC Frenergey Heat Recovery Water Heater.

The product was shown off at the Gef Unido Cleantech Innovation Programme for SMEs in Thailand event, which saw those entrepreneurs with outstanding innovations present their products at the Cleantech Open Global Forum in San Francisco, in the United States, last year.

The pair’s product also won an award in the category of energy saving in corporate applications at the Thailand Green Design awards 2018, which was conducted by Kasetsart University’s Agricultural and Agro-Industrial Product Improvement Institute (KAPI).

“When we got award, that helped us to promote our product and it also served as a guarantee by experts that our product was environmentally friendly,” Atchara said. Such recognition is helping the company to sell the product overseas, including in the Maldives, Africa, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The company’s product line now encompasses the Pac Frenergy heat recovery water heater; the Pac Pooltemper, which is an energy-saving pool temperature controller for cooling and heating the water, and Pac Heat Pump, a high-temperature water heater for large volume of water.

“All of our products focus on innovation that comes from research and develop undertaken by us. This will help us to achieve sustainable growth for long term as we are reliant on own technology. This is the best way for us to proceed,” Atchara said.

Ethan Nyholm, founder of STM Goods Australia, an IT accessories company based in that country, said the IT accessories market in Thailand is enjoying sustained growth, driven by rising demand for such products and the pattern of product replacement as technology evolves.

Nyholm said the company had made a strategic decision to expand its range of accessories, such as premium notebook bags and iPad cases, to support business to business (B2B) transactions in the education segment. Institutions were making steady purchases of products such as tablets for their students’ needs, he said.

“We offer protective and stylish notebook bags and iPad cases, focusing on the premium market with designs and functions that matter,” Nyholm said.

“These designs are not for the masses but for people that like to take matters into their own hands. The Thai market is one of our top three markets, following Australia, which holds No 1 spot, and India in the Asia Pacific region.” The company distributes IT accessories with a focus on the premium market – with product prices ranging from Bt1,800 to Bt4,500 – through around 250 shops across the country.

Mitri Nademahakul, the sales manager of STM Goods Thailand, said the company’s main IT accessories are categorised under Stories Collection, for general users; Streets Collection for travellers; Myty Collection for business people; and the Grace Collection for women. Each collection contains a bag, a backpack, a laptop brief and a laptop sleeve, to serve a range of customer needs.

“Our target group is not the mass market but those who are meticulous on buying the stuff that matters to their needs,” Mitri said.

“We just launched the STM Goods mobile app that allows users to experience products in an incredible, never-before-seen way. Integrated augmented reality technology, including interactive 3D graphics, animation and video, immerses you in an experience that goes far beyond typical 2D on-screen experiences.”

He said the firm’s 30 per cent sales growth target for 2018 would be achieved with the help of a marketing campaign that seeks to build brand awareness via social media, in addition to increasing the number of IT distributors who focus on the premium end.

“We will use social media to reach our target groups, which cover teenagers, university students, general people, travellers, sports people and business people. This market has a significant growth rate as per the growing market for notebooks, tablets and smartphones,” he said.

The Thai economy has continued to expand primarily due to growth in the export and tourism sectors, consistent with an increase in global demand, the Bangkok Bank said in a statement announcing a 5.2 per cent quarterly increase in net interest income compared to the same period last year.

For the first quarter of 2018, Bangkok Bank and its subsidiaries’ net interest income amounted to Bt17.1 billion, an increase of 5.2 per cent from the first quarter in 2017, with a net interest margin of 2.34 per cent.

Non-interest income was Bt14.4 billion, an increase of 31.8 per cent, due predominantly to an increase in net fees and service income and gains on investments. The increase in net fees and service income was mainly attributed to a rise in fee income from mutual funds and loan-related services.

The bank’s operating expenses were Bt12.6 billion, an increase of 13.6 per cent, while the ratio of expenses to operating income dropped to 39.9 per cent. Consequently, net profit attributable to owners of the bank was Bt9 billion, an increase of 8.4 per cent from the first quarter of last year.

Thailand is structurally transitioning into an innovation driven economy, with the government’s infrastructure development programme supporting the nation’s position as a logistics hub for Southeast Asia, according to the release.

These developments serve to strengthen three major trends which have been guiding Bangkok Bank’s business direction in recent years –regionalisation, urbanisation and digitalisation.

Repurchase deal boosts KBank’s first-quarter net

Pipit Aneaknithi, president of Kasikornbank, said a net income increase from a repurchase agreement transaction helped the bank achieve a first-quarter 2018 net profit of Bt10.766 billion, a 5.84 per cent increase over the same period of 2017.

Net interest income increased by Bt608 million or 2.63 per cent, mainly due to interest income from a repurchase agreement transaction, according to a press release on Friday.

The net interest margin (NIM) was 3.37.

However, non-interest income decreased by Bt405 million or 2.61 per cent, due mostly to a decrease in net insurance premiums, while net fees and service income increased by 4.71 per cent due to fees from fund management and loan-related fee income, said the release

Other operating expenses increased by Bt765 million or 5.03 per cent from marketing expenses. That resulted in a cost-to-income ratio that stood at 41.20 per cent.

For this quarter, KBank set aside a lower allowance for impairment loss on loans in line with current circumstances.

Group rises on higher operation income, lower provisions

CIMB Thai Group recorded a consolidated net profit of Bt168.9 million in the first three months of the year, an increase of Bt47.7 million (39.3 per cent) year-on-year compared to the first three months of 2017.

President and chief executive Kittiphun Anutarasoti credited the improvement mainly to 8.1-per-cent growth in operating income and a 4.5-per-cent drop in provisions, offset by a 10.6-per-cent rise in operating expenses.

Year on year, operating income rose by Bt252.3 million (8.1 per cent) to Bt3.38 billion from an increase of Bt132.9 million (5.4 per cent) in net interest income and Bt47.3 million (11.1 per cent) in net fee and service income arising from higher fees from insurance, hire-purchase and mutual funds.

Other operating income rose by Bt72.1 million (30.1 per cent) from a gain on sales of available for sale securities.

Operating expenses increased by Bt186 million (10.6 per cent), mainly from higher expenses from properties for sale and personnel cost, partially offset by lower expenses from premises and equipment.

This resulted in a higher cost to income ratio of 57.2 per cent in Q1 2018 compared to 55.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2017.

The Net Interest Margin over earning assets stood at 3.98 per cent in Q1 2018, compared to 3.77 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, from more efficient funding cost management.

Survey finds why Thain workers are more glum

In its “2017 Happiness Index Report” released this week, jobsDB (Thailand) said the three key factors in keeping employees content were convenience in their work location, their employer’s reputation, and their relationships with colleagues.

In a survey of 1,108 workers, 60 per cent of respondents said they were happy with their work, for an average ranking of 4.55 points on the “happiness index”.

The happiest workers were in management (4.95 points), administration and human resources (4.94), engineering (4.86), IT (4.74) and transportation (4.73).

Compared to their counterparts in Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Thais ranked fifth, slipping two spots from last year.

Indonesia was at 5.27 points, Vietnam at 5.19, the Philippines at 4.97, Malaysia at 4.65, Hong Kong at 4.45 and Singapore at 4.31.

In Thailand, the least happy workers were fresh graduates and employees with less than a year’s experience, together scoring 4.35 points, followed by people with 1-4 years’ experience at 4.45 points.

Top executives scored best, with an average of 5.19 points, while managers averaged 4.64 and supervisors 4.54.

Asked what would make them happier in the next six months, 37 per cent of the Thai respondents hoped for better opportunities and jobs elsewhere, 20 per cent were prepared to remain with their current job if they got a raise, and 8 per cent wanted more recognition or a promotion.

In the past, workers tended to prioritise job security, but now there is more ambition to rise to the executive level.

Younger employees put a high premium on “inspiration” as a factor in choosing which company to join. They’re not afraid of leaving their comfort zone.

However, both generations share keen interest in having a convenient work location, a company with a good reputation and good rapport with colleagues.

The factors that most make them want to quit are working with inefficient executives, chances elsewhere to advance in their careers and lacking challenges in the development of work skills.

Changes affecting the workforce in the past year have included the growth of the ageing society, robotics and AI technology, and startups attracting younger people who prefer to be self-employed.

There were also more young people using social media as earning tools.

The survey revealed that the key elements in retaining employees are to offer support and encouragement to enhance their capabilities, provide opportunities for career growth, and be able to see them as competent and successful role models.

The NBTC this week made an order to the mobile phone service brand of True Corp with regards to the recent incident involving the unauthorised access of TrueMove H’s 11,400 customers’ personal data, stored by TrueMove H partner, WeMall, on Amazon Web Services S3 cloud storage bucket. WeMall said it fixed the problem on April 12.

TrueMove H has set data security as its top priority in its business operations in strict compliance with NBTC regulations, it said.

The NBTC last week summoned representatives of True Corp and WeMall to explain the recent findings of foreign security expert Niall Merrigan that the personal data of subscribers could be accessed without authorisation.

TrueMove H expressed “deep regret” saying it had caused considerable concern among customers about the company’s data security measures. The firm said it has taken action to take control of the situation, including seeking cooperation from WeMall in blocking access to all the affected customer data, reporting the case to the authorities, sending messages to potentially affected customers and enabling them to make free enquiries to its 1242 call centre 24 hours a day.

TrueMove H will also take responsibility for any damage caused to the affected customers as a result of the incident, it added.

TrueMove H emphasises that this incident does not affect other customers as their personal data is stored in its internal data centres, which are strongly secured and protected in conformity with national requirements and internal measures.

The programme’s start date has been delayed to May from late April. The period remains unchanged at two years.

Winning the financial publication’s awards through voting by corporate clients in Thailand and Asia reflects SCB’s strong competence in expanding its service network to cover clients and investors in every corner of the region and catering to the needs of customers both domestically and overseas, the bank said.

Pipat Assamongkol, the bank’s services chief, accepted the awards at the JW Marriott Pacific Place Hotel in Hong Kong.

President and chief executive Kittiphun Anutarasoti credited the improvement mainly to 8.1-per-cent growth in operating income and a 4.5-per-cent drop in provisions, offset by a 10.6-per-cent rise in operating expenses.

Year on year, operating income rose by Bt252.3 million (8.1 per cent) to Bt3.38 billion from an increase of Bt132.9 million (5.4 per cent) in net interest income and Bt47.3 million (11.1 per cent) in net fee and service income arising from higher fees from insurance, hire-purchase and mutual funds.

Other operating income rose by Bt72.1 million (30.1 per cent) from a gain on sales of available for sale securities.

Operating expenses increased by Bt186 million (10.6 per cent), mainly from higher expenses from properties for sale and personnel cost, partially offset by lower expenses from premises and equipment.

This resulted in a higher cost to income ratio of 57.2 per cent in 3M2018 compared to 55.8 per cent in 3M2017.

The Net Interest Margin over earning assets stood at 3.98 per cent in 3M2018, compared to 3.77 per cent in 3M2017, from more efficient funding cost management.