Among other plans announced by the company, it will transfer its business into a digital energy solution provider to take advantage of the high growth potential in digital means of providing renewable energy more efficiently and cleanly.

The company also plans to increase its capacity for electricity generation by 100 megawatts (MW) by the end of this year.

Bundit Sapianchai, president and CEO of BCPG, a green power business focused on renewable energy, said the move to transfer its business into what it calls the digital energy field was aimed at ensuring sustainable growth in such operations over the long term. With the company as a provider of digital energy solutions, it will enable services in peer-to-peer energy trading using blockchain technology. This would create a digital energy ecosystem in the country, Bundit said.

The blockchain technology platform allows households to produce their own energy supply through roof-top solar panels.

This environmentally friendly source of energy can be put to their household needs. The householders can also distribute the solar energy to other households via blockchain as a peer-to-peer energy transaction at low cost.

This means households can gain savings of around 25 per cent per unit compared with the traditional supply of electricity from the electricity authorities in their countries.

With householders having the means to share the electricity they generate with others, governments would have less need to build more power plants.

The company’s new business unit, Centre of Digital Energy (Code), will handle the digital-based distribution of energy under this business model.

The application of this blockchain technology comes from Power Ledger, an Australia-based company that provides a peer-to-peer marketplace for trading in renewable energy.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) to use the blockchain-based platform for peer-to-peer energy trading.

“I think that Code will be form part of our efforts to drive the business forward in the digital world with the use of this cutting-edge technology. This enables us to provide energy management services in the digital energy era.” In a related initiative, the company has joined with property developer Sansiri to develop green energy at Sansiri’s 77 project. This will serve as a prototype project that uses blockchain for peer-to-peer energy trading. The company says it will be the first such project in Southeast Asia and operations are expected to start in June.

The Sansiri 77 project, as the first peer-to-peer energy trading project in the region, will make use of a 300 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery storage system and 150kW from solar panels. It will allow the 80 residents in the property development to balance their energy usage between their local grid and the main electricity grid. There is also the option to enable any excess electricity to be sold back to retailers via the network. Roof-top solar panels have been installed at Habito Mall, Bangkok Prep International School and Park Court Condominium of MK Property.

In the first stage, the project will generate green-sourced energy of 5-10 megawatts, rising to 30 megawatts later.

Regarding the company’s planned Bt7 billion investment in the Smart Park industrial estate in Rayong, this will result in the building of alternative energy infrastructure. Floating solar and roof-top panel installations at the estate would be able to generate electricity of around 280 gigawatt hours (gWh) a year.

The floating solar and roof-top solar panels will cover around 2,000 rai.

The three-year project will be started by the end this year and will be finished in 2021.

Bundit said that by the end of this year it expects to generate revenue growth of around 15-20 per cent from the Bt3.7 billion posted last year. He said that the firm now a capacity in green-sourced energy of 600 MW and aims to increase this capacity by 100 MW by the end of the year.

DHL eCommerce, a division of the world’s leading logistics company, Deutsche Post DHL Group, is partnering with Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, to offer greater convenience and choice to Shopee users in Thailand, according to Shopee’s press statement.

Sellers on Shopee can now access over 500 DHL Service-Points across the country to drop off their parcels and have them delivered to their shoppers across Thailand. Alternatively, sellers can also arrange a pickup from DHL for door-to-door delivery service to their buyers.

Kiattichai Pitpreecha, Managing Director, DHL eCommerce said, “We are thrilled to be partnering Shopee to offer greater ease, choice and control over the online delivery experience. Shoppers’ expectations are growing with regards to their entire purchasing experience – from the click to purchase until the goods are received.”

A recent report states that 60% of consumers purchased from one online merchant over another because delivery options were more convenient for their needs, highlighting the pivotal role of delivery in the overall online shopping experience1,” he said.

Terence Pang, Chief Operating Officer of Shopee said, “Shopee is excited to work with DHL eCommerce and we are confident that our users will benefit from the suite of services and features offered by DHL. We aim to become the online shopping destination of choice in all our markets and will continue to explore synergies between the two companies to make both buying and selling on Shopee as easy and seamless as possible.”

The press statement said DHL’s domestic delivery network in Thailand offers high quality delivery service and a range of other services, such as easy IT and API integration, end-to-end tracking, delivery insurance, cash on delivery and more, tailored for the booming e-commerce industry. This enables sellers and leading brands on Shopee to efficiently reach out to customers across the country. Shoppers on the other hand will benefit from the consistent quality and convenience of delivery options.

DHL eCommerce will also be growing its ServicePoint footprint in Thailand to over a thousand in the coming months to offer increased touchpoints with users.

To mark the start of the partnership, Shopee and DHL will be extending a limited period free shipping promotion. Shopee sellers can enjoy free shipping nationwide (terms and conditions apply) from now until 30 June 2018 when they select DHL as the logistics provider for their shipments. For more information, visit https://shopee.co.th/dhlservice

KTC siad the personal loan business is growing constantly and is not intimidated by various determinant factors including the economy and regulations and administrative measures.

The compay is well prepared for its online activities and market situation and expects to achieve the goal of 10 per cent growth in account receivables growth by the end of 2018.

KTC has Bt24.46 billion in personal loans account receivables in the first quarter of this year, a 10 per cent rise compared to the same period last year; a personal loans portfolio of 857,613 accounts, considered quality accounts due to the low NPL personal loans value of 0.82 per cent; and for the first 2 months of 2018, a market share of approximately 6.9 per cent of total account receivables in personal loans in the industry, she said.

The new Terminal D is an integral part of Thailand’ s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) under Thailand 4.0’s objective to modernise the economy through improved infrastructure and innovation.

Terminal D will set a new global standard of port operations which, on its completion will greatly facilitate the growth of container volumes at Laem Chabang, adding much-needed capacity by 3.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit). An initial phase of Terminal D, comprising three of the largest quay cranes in the world using remote control technology, will come into operation in mid-2018, said Stephen Ashworth, Managing Director /Thailand and Southeast Asia of Hutchison Ports.

The new Terminal D will be capable of handling some of the largest ocean vessels currently in operation, offering customers more choice and flexibility, as well as improved efficiency and productivity.

On full completion, the new Terminal D will have a total quay length of 1,700 metres, with 17 super post panamax quay cranes and 43 electric rubber tyred gantry cranes (yard cranes) using remote control technology.

Ashworth said the Hutchison Ports network includes 52 ports in 26 countries around the globe

Based in Bangkok, Seah has overall responsibility for Nestlé’s diverse manufacturing, commercial, distribution and export operations in Thailand and oversees the development of high-potential markets of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Seah, a Singapore national, joined the company in 2006 as country business manager for Nestlé Professional in Singapore.

He then became sales director for Nestlé Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei before relocating to Nestlé headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland in 2013.

He spent a year as vice president and project manager in Nestlé’s Dairy Strategic Business Unit before being appointed vice president and regional manager overseeing Southeast Asia.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to return to the region,” Seah said. “The Indochina region – Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – present tremendous business opportunities for Nestlé. My priority is to continue to drive growth while inspiring our employees to deliver on the Nestlé Purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.”

Prior to joining Nestlé, Seah spent more than a decade in sales and marketing and general management positions for a well-known global beverage company, covering markets across Southeast Asia.

He also held a senior management position at a major sports equipment retailer in the United States for three years.

Managing director Suvadee Phungbunphra said this week the group had enjoyed “satisfactory” growth for 15 years.

“We have never ceased to develop our services and keep pace with trends,” he said. “In 2018, we will implement three main strategies.

“The first is a loyalty programme focused on managing customer relations and targeting VIPs. The second is introducing a new brand to the Thai market late this year. Thirdly, we will officially introduce Longchamp to the e-commerce sector.”

Vice president Orand Puipunthawong said PP has done well in recent years despite the country’s overall business sector enduring “hard time”.

“Last year our business grew by 40 per cent from the year earlier. Like-for-like growth was 20 per cent. The bigger growth rate owed to the opening of more MCM shops, one at Siam Paragon and the other at Central Embassy, as well as TOD’s entry into PP Group.

“In the first quarter of 2018, our business grew by 46.2 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Such huge growth reflects good economic signs and rebounding consumer spending. So PP Group has even greater confidence in investing. We have now allocated between Bt150 million and Bt200 million to invest in shops, marketing, PR and promotions in pursuit of a sales target of Bt1.2 billion this year.

“The loyalty programme will be a key strategy,” Orand said. “We have run loyalty programmes before, but for individual brands only. Market analyses show that some regular customers have bought products of not just one but many brands under our umbrella. We have thus decided to seriously conduct customer-relation management.

“Customer information from every brand in our group will be put into the central system so that we can see customer behaviour from a broader perspective. We have invested in a new system to create a PP Group loyalty programme. Apart from being VIPs to each brand, our customers will also be treated as VIPs by our whole group and get extra privileges.”

Suvadee explained that the programme was for customers buying products from all nine brands.

“There will be two membership categories – PP Pearl and PP Pure – based on a customer’s spending in one year. Benefits will come from nine brands, not just one.”

Orand said the group was going to launch Off-white in Thailand, a brand that “exudes the mixture of street fashion and lifestyle taste”.

“These days even luxury brands place a strong emphasis on street styles. Street trends have been growing in Thailand, just as a greater number of Thais have paid attention to fashion.

“Thai fashion bloggers have dressed outstandingly at internationally recognized fashion weeks. Their presence has influenced Thai consumer behaviour a lot. Thais have become more confident and self-expressive. When they choose clothes and accessories, they think about their identity and differentiation.”

Suvadee describes Off-white as “a brand with clear character, fun and bold”.

“It represents the courage to face challenges. Such character should answer well to the taste of Thai people as well as tourists in Thailand. The launches of Off-white in various world cities have received very good response. We trust that Off-white sales in Thailand will be satisfactory, as a huge number of Chinese tourists in the country look set to help provide a boost.”

Orand said the move into e-commerce was another key strategy for 2018.

“It is undeniable that consumer behaviour has changed significantly, with many more Thais shopping online now. Today, various e-commerce platforms are up and running. PP Group has tested online distribution by selling Longchamp and MCM via the Line app. The move initially aimed at providing convenience to customers who cannot physically drop into our shop. Online shopping is easier for many customers in the provinces. Now we believe it’s the right time to fully develop an e-commerce platform for our brands.

“According to intelligence, retail e-commerce was worth US$3 billion in 2016. Of that amount, about $390 million – more than Bt13.65 million – came from fashion businesses. These groups had a remarkable growth rate of 49 per cent, too.

“Recognising the trend, we have invested in website development and https://onlinestore.ppgroupthailand.com is ready to spur our online sales. Longchamp was chosen as the first brand to officially step into our online store. It is a successful brand with a 70-year history and familiar to Thais.”