The plan is meant to support savings of the country’s lower-income people, said the bank’s president and CEO Chatchai Payuhanaveechai yesterday.

The bank expects 100,000 accounts to be created for the campaign, which has just kicked off, he said

Somjate Moosirilert, CEO of Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited, said: “In the first three months of 2018, our customer-focused strategy continued to produce strong results with earnings growing for a 13th straight quarter. We continue to create and deliver value to our customers while driving top quartile efficiency gains. Our market leading position in hire purchase loans grew almost 9 per cent and we registered good gains in our retail franchise, particularly in the SME [small- and medium-sized enterprises] segment and we remain well capitalised with a capital adequacy ratio of 18.8 per cent.”

Somjate highlighted some key initiatives over the last quarter, including introduction of Thanachart Ultra Savings Account which offers one of the highest interest rates in the industry at up to 1.5 per cent per annum, as well as the launch of the Thanachart Justice League Chibi card.

The CEO was also enthusiastic about the bank’s digital progress, saying: “Today, all of our customers can apply for loans themselves through our Thanachart Connect mobile application. We prioritised customer feedback in building this capability and we are excited by the customer experience it provides.”

The new business model jointly developed by both organisations has the common aim of reshaping retail businesses, particularly the supermarket segment, to cater to the lifestyles of all consumer groups and boost efforts toward achieving a cashless society.

SCB corporate banking head Wasin Saiyawan said the current business strategy adopted by the bank is to help develop and support client businesses whenever there is an opportunity to enhance their competitiveness. From now on the bank will not just focus on loan support or financial transaction services, Wasin said.

The move was in line with the government’s policy of boosting Thailand’s transition to a cashless society, the SCB chief added. The platforms will provide Villa Market clients with added convenience in purchasing products, accumulating points and exercising benefits under marketing promotions flexibly and effortlessly, Wasin added.

Villa Market would benefit from enhanced sales, reduced cash management costs and increased channels for quick and efficient communications with clients.

Villa Market CEO Pisit Poosanakhom said the cooperative effort would modernise the supermarket’s channels to cater to the needs of consumers in the Thailand 4.0 era.

VPlus Wallet is the first Thai supermarket app enabling clients to top up money and accumulate loyalty points for the redemption of benefits, Pisit said.

Shoponline.villamarket.com allows clients to buy goods from Villa Market around the clock and choose to receive the goods through delivery or at the supermarkets.

“Currently, Villa Market has 250,000 VPlus Card members. They are gradually entering into our membership system on the digital platform. We target tapping over 100,000 new card members, adding 20,000 top-up clients through VPlus Wallet, and increasing the number of those shopping via the Villa website by 50,000. It will grow Villa Market’s e-commerce and outlet sales 2018 by 10 per cent year on year,” he said.

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However, a rise in operating expenses from higher marketing expenses for digital acquisition and higher investment in digital banking as part of the bank’s strategy led to a decline in net profit of 4.6 per cent year on year to Bt11.36 billion in the first quarter, based on unreviewed consolidated financial statements

The non-performing loan ratio improved to 2.77 per cent in the first three months of 2018 from 2.83 per cent at the end of last year. Loan loss provisions were set at Bt5.01 billion or 0.98 per cent of total loans in 1Q18, consequently improving the bank’s coverage ratio to 141.9 per cent at the end of 1Q18 from 137.3 per cent at the end of 2017.

CEO Arthid Nanthawithaya said: “The bank remains focused on our customers’ satisfaction and experience with the speed and high security of our digital banking platform.

“Although competition in the banking industry has intensified from both commercial banks and non-bank players, we have risen to this challenge by implementing the ‘Going Upside Down’ strategy to enhance the bank’s flexibility and agility in responding to evolving customer lifestyles. In the long run, the bank believes that mobile banking will expand with unstoppable growth, and will be the source of the bank’s future business opportunities,” Arthid added.

The Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), the representative of the world’s number one salmon exporter, in partnership with Thammachart Seafood Retail Co Ltd, has introduced the “Seafood from Norway” country-of-origin logo, as a trademark of quality.

Under the partnership, the government and Alibaba will work closely together in a number of areas, including e-commerce, digital logistics, tourism and training.

They signed a letter of intent in 2016 that kickstarted a number of joint efforts to bolster the capacity of Thai entrepreneurs to gain access to new markets and taking advantage of digital innovations.

The deputy prime minister said: “Confident in the promising outlook of the Thai economy, the Thailand 4.0 policy and the high potential of the EEC development, Alibaba has decided to invest in a smart digital hub in the EEC. The hub will be an important platform to link Thai SMEs [small- and medium-sized enterprises] and Otop [One Tambon One Product] and agricultural products to, not only China, but also other markets.

“The strategic cooperation with Alibaba will bring benefits to Thai SMEs and farmers as well as the tourism industry, while pushing forward digital economic development in Thailand,” Somkid said.

Ma told the media: “China is on its way to becoming the world’s largest consumer, driven by rising income and a growing middle class of 300 million. There is no better time than now for trade-oriented countries to seize this opportunity to export to China as the country continues to open its doors wider for global trade. Quality Thai agricultural products such as fragrant rice, durian and other tropical fruit in particular are sought after by the Chinese consumer,” said the co-founder of Alibaba.

“Given Thailand’s unique strengths in people and culture, we are confident of its future and growth potential under the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy. We are committed to being a long-term partner of Thailand to help enable its digital transformation.”

Shopee, a leading e-commerce platform in Asean and Taiwan, says users can now easily access a curated collection of products by celebrities on Shopee, including cosmetics, supplements, facial and body-care products. To celebrate the launch, Shopee will offer a special discount of up to Bt100 off across all celebrity stores until April 23.

Agatha Soh, marketing boss at Shopee, said: “Shopee Celebrity Club reiterates our commitment to constantly improving our platform, features and product offerings to cater to the needs and preferences of all Thais, and to continually find ways to reach out to and engage with them.

She continued: “In line with the preference of Thais to engage with celebrities on social media, the launch of celebrity shops aims at connecting with users on a deeper level, in particular, users who are huge fans of these Thai celebrities. We are honoured to be the first-ever e-commerce platform to deliver an extraordinary online shopping experience for all Thais.”

The food conglomerate expects that cooked duck sales will grow by 16 per cent this year to reach Bt1.3 billion, due to growth in the European and New Zealand markets.

Prasit Boondoungprasert, the firm’s trade chief, said in 2017 that CPF exported 4,590 tonnes of duck to Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and elsewhere.

CPF hopes to export 5,500 tonnes and increase its revenue from Bt1 billion to Bt1.3 billion this year, partly on the back of New Zealand demand.

New Zealand has become one of CPF’s fastest growing markets for duck since it entered the market almost two years ago, making it the first company approved by the Ministry of Primary Industries to import fully cooked duck to New Zealand.

Since then, CPF said its cooked duck had become one of New Zealanders’ favourite dishes due to its taste and easy preparation of just reheating.

New Zealand consumers said they were unlikely to cook duck at home because they were unfamiliar with the meat.

“New Zealand consumers choose to eat duck at restaurants. It is because they worry about the food preparation and cooking process,” Prasit added.

CP Authentic Asia Duck is fully roasted making the cooking process easy. It sells alongside the popular Peking Crispy Duck.

The popularity of duck products in New Zealand reflected the confidence in the Thai food safety procedures, Prasit said.