The value of new business (VONB) increased by 20 per cent on a constant exchange rate basis, compared with the corresponding six-month period in 2018.

“AIA has delivered double- digit increases in our main financial metrics in the first half of 2019, continuing our consistent track record of growth. The value of new business increased by 20 per cent to a record half-year result of US$2.275 billion for the Group. We also generated a 12-per-cent increase in operating profit after tax and 150-per-cent growth in underlying free surplus generation,” said Ng Keng Hooi, AIA’s Group chief executive and president.

“The Board has declared a 14 per cent increase in interim dividend for 2019. This reflects our continued strong financial performance and demonstrates our confidence in the outlook for the Group. AIA’s wholly- owned business in China was our fastest growing market segment with excellent growth of 34 per cent in VONB. Our new sales and service centres in Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, Hebei commenced operations at the end of July while our business in Hong Kong once again performed strongly with a 19-per-cent increase in VONB, benefiting from broad-based growth across customer segments and distribution channels,” he continued.

“VONB growth of our operations in Thailand and Malaysia was supported by our sustained focus on enhancing agent professionalism and developing our strategic bancassurance partnerships. Within our other markets, 17-per-cent growth in VONB was driven by strong performances in Australia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Ng Keng Hooi added that AIA’s proprietary agency distribution delivered 21 per cent growth in VONB as the Group’s strategy achieved a further increase in active agents and productivity. “I am delighted that AIA continues to rank number one in the world for Million Dollar Round Table members with more than 12,000 registered members. VONB from our partnership business increased by 17 per cent, supported by excellent growth of our multiple bancassurance partnerships across the region,” he said.

“In June, AIA’s brand was recognised as Asia’s Number One Insurance Brand. Our purpose-led brand promise, ‘Healthier, Longer, Better Lives’, exemplifies our commitment to become a lifelong partner to our customers. The ongoing success of AIA Vitality demonstrates our focus on customer centricity and membership of our wellness programmes exceeded 1.5 million at the end of June.

“AIA’s excellent performance in the first half of 2019 is a clear reflection of our consistent focus on executing our strategic priorities and is underpinned by our significant competitive advantages in the Asia- Pacific region. While we are not immune to market volatility, our diversified, robust and high-quality business model continues to place AIA in an advantaged position in the Asian life insurance markets where growth fundamentals remain resilient. And as we celebrate our centennial this year, we remain very confident about the long-term outlook for AIA.”

He added that the company had been successful in collecting Bt1.3 billion worth of debt in the first half of this year, slightly over half the targetted Bt2.5 billion for 2019 as a whole. This generated a net profit of Bt490 million.

“We manage debt by negotiating with our debtors to restructure their debt and also help them to find partners to inject capital to rehabilitate their businesses. This supports us in managing debt to meet our target,” he said.

The company also expects its financial results in the rest of this year will meet the target and achieve the targeted debt management of Bt2.5 billion.

He said the subsidiary, which positions itself as a premium airline, had carried out a major restructuring programme of its operations, aimed at cutting operational cost and teaming up with THAI in both sales and marketing. Thai Smile will keep its positioning as a premium low-cost airline and become a feeder service provider for the Star Alliance network.

Meanwhile, Sumeth said: “On behalf of  Thai Smile’s  chairman, I  will launch  the largest-ever financial restructuring of the carrier in compliance with the new IFRS9 accounting system, effective by 2020. However, I cannot reveal whether it will be a rise in capital, but the resulting benefits will lead to an improvement in the carrier’s performance, higher confidence and the start of in-bound routes directly to many potential markets, such as the Philippines,” he said.

THAI, as a 100-per cent holder of Thai Smile, implemented the restructuring programme recently in the areas of ticketing, marketing and the arrangement of routes to complement each other’s flight schedule. By doing so, Thai Smile will have better cost management.

“We believe that by the end of this year, Thai Smile will have significantly reduced its loss. THAI suffered a  Bt3.6 billion loss from holding all shares in the subsidiary and its related businesses last year with the net loss of Thai Smile itself amounting to Bt2.6 billion ,” said Sumeth.

For this year, THAI has estimated a loss of Bt1.6 billion to Bt1.7 billion from Thai Smile, down 50-per cent from last year’s, he said.

“The capacity of Thai Smile has been raised from 8.30 hours per aircraft per day to about 9.30 hours. By next year, we plan to further increase the capacity to 10.30 hours per aircraft per day, which will be the breaking point for Thai Smile. By then, it will no longer incur a loss,” said the THAI president .

He said Thai Smile had joined Star Alliance, the premium aviation network and the connection with its global system would be completed by the end of this year. It will allow Thai Smile to link up its  routes with major international airlines’, giving it an opportunity to operate as a feeder carrier for    passengers coming to Thailand. There are currently many airlines showing interest in joining up with Thai Smile, including Air France.

“The entry of Thai Smile to the Star Alliance will reinforce its stand point as a premium airline which will also serve as a feeder carrier for other airlines in the network. I believe that by managing its cost systematically, Thai Smile will turn around and THAI will have a better overall performance,” said Sumeth.

Chatchai Payuhanaveechai said the number of users is expected to increase to 8.5 million users by year’s end, and to rocket to 13 million users in 2020 while becoming the most used app in the digital banking market.

Ultimately, Chatchai said, the application has the potential to expand the market and reach 22 million customers for digital banking.

The behaviour of digital banking customers shows a strong skew to digital financial transactions at 83 per cent, while traditional transactions have decreased to 17 per cent. The trend will reach 90-95 of digital financial transactions in three years, he said.

The behaviour of banking customers is changing, with the future business strategy expected to focus on digital platforms such as digital lending, personal loan services and credit card services.

Overall bank loan will continue to increase. In the last seven months, total loans grew by 4 per cent, with outstanding loan at nearly Bt2.19 trillion. It is expected that the rest of this year should see 2 per cent growth in total loans, reaching the targeted 4-6 per cent growth, and with outstanding loans at Bt2.2 million. New loans should grow to approximately Bt4-5 billion.

Moreover, GSB Research will launch a project to publish research reports of the microeconomic economy, the foundations economy, and the industrial economy. The project aims to be a source of information for the country’s researchers.

The company has been named one of the Number ONE Global Insurance Brands for the 10th consecutive year.

AXA car insurance holders are offered immediate service without queuing, car delivery within 10 kilometres, one-year warranty of repair quality, guarantee of high-quality body paint, and complimentary car cleaning service. In addition, the company offers AXA Roadside Service, a 24-hour nationwide emergency assistance and AXA Sure, a 30-minute guaranteed arrival time at the scene of an accident.

Somjate Khunsriuchen, chief operations officer, said “AXA’s Preferred Garage programme aims to deliver the best service. It also ensures the same premium service at its partners’ garages”.

The five garages selected for the AXA Preferred Garage programme are: 148 Tepharak at Tepharak, Samutprakarn; Pho Thong Body Paint & Service at Suan Luang, Bangkok; Tong Charoen Yont Garage at Bang Bon, Bangkok; MBK Japan Garage at Sathorn, Bangkok; and Nam Samai Garage at Pakkred, Nonthaburi.

Bank president Chartsiri Sophonpanich said the board of directors, at a meeting on Thursday, adopted a resolution that the interim dividend of Bt2 per ordinary share from operational profit in the first half of 2019 be paid on September 20.

The dividend was derived from retained earnings, which were subject to corporate income tax of 23 per cent.

The record date for determining shareholders’ rights to receive the dividend will be September 5, he said.

Calculated on a daily basis, the interest will be paid every month for deposits of at least Bt20,000 but no more than Bt50 million. Depositors can also make withdrawals twice a month free of charge.

Komchalat Piteeprom, senior director of the bank’s deposit and unit trust product development division, said: “The Ultra Savings Account become popular among consumers as it incorporates the strong feature of savings deposits in terms of flexibility as well as the strong feature of fixed deposits in terms of high interest rates. The objective of the campaign is to encourage members of the public to grow their savings. Depositors can withdraw cash twice monthly free of charge, after which a service fee of Bt50 will be charged for each withdrawal.

“One of Ultra Savings’ key customer groups includes working people who want to start saving or have excess cash. They not only get a good rate of return but can also avoid high-risk or complex investments. It also serves as the first milestone for growing their savings. Ultra Savings also offers flexibility as depositors can withdraw cash in case of emergency with no impact on the interest. Another key group includes SME operators and business owners who are looking for a deposit product which not only offers a higher interest rate than the conventional savings account, but also gives a higher level of liquidity than fixed deposits. The product provides depositors with the power to better manage their cash in line with the changing business environment.”

The paper aims to drive Thailand 4.0 initiatives to pave the way for major digital and infrastructure development in Phuket, one of Thailand’s pilot smart cities, and to provide insights and guidance on an integrated framework needed for a successful and sustainable urban transformation.

Developed in collaboration with Roland Berger, the white paper was created in alignment with the government’s initiatives to enable digital economy and enhance the wellbeing of Thai people. Inspired by Thailand 4.0 economic development programme launched in 2016, the paper focuses on a practical roadmap that helps empowering communities for digital future.

Realizing that an end-to-end development can be achieved through public-private partnerships, Huawei conducted an assessment and case studies on the services and utilities required for a fully-developed smart city. The resulting white provides comprehensive insights into action plans to transform this vibrant city into a smart one by 2020.

The white paper features Phuket-focused Smart City frameworks consisting of 5 service verticals and 8 service enablers for Smart City development at Phuket and the national level. The services include smart energy and utilities, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living and smart economy while the enablers are smart governance, smart infrastructure and smart people.

In his opening address, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa)’s president Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanpatcharin noted that thanks to the support from the National Smart City Committee and organizations from both public and private sectors, the smart city developments have already begun in 6 prioritized cities: Phuket, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and 3 EEC provinces. “As one of our pilot cities, Phuket needs a clear development plan and a sustainable management model in order to fully transform into a smart city in 2020, this white paper will surely help facilitate smart city project for Phuket and other smart city candidates as well,” he said.

Chanchai Tanatkatrakul, Principal, Roland Berger Thailand added: “We looked at global best practices and analysed local issues and requirements to develop this Smart City Framework for Phuket. Talking to various stakeholders helped us tailor our recommendations that can address the needs of Phuket and its people very well:”

Deng Feng, Managing Director of Huawei Thailand agreed, saying: “At Huawei, we promote industry development at all levels. As Thailand embarks on the journey to become one of the first countries in the region to develop a smart city scheme, we will provide practical recommendations and solutions to ensure a smooth and complete city development for Phuket and the rest of Thailand.”

Since 2010 both companies have been partners in the alliance, which is part of Mitsubishi Electric’s e-F@ctory Concept.

The concept supports companies with measures within the framework of digital transformation, such as the integration of machine and plant data into MES (manufacturing execution systems) and ERP (enterprise resource planning systems).

“To provide Industry 4.0 solutions with substantial added value for the customer, we need collaboration across different companies,” said Stefan Spindler, CEO of Schaeffler’s industrial division. “With the technological expertise and systems know-how of Schaeffler and Mitsubishi Electric, we will be able to offer intelligent solutions tailored to customer and market requirements to optimise manufacturing operations and equipment lifecycle costs.”

Noriyuki Shimizu, corporate executive vice president for Mitsubishi Electric’s Factory Automation Systems Group, said: “We have successfully carried out joint projects in various countries in Europe and Asia over the years. Now we intend to intensify and expand our collaboration on a global level.”

Mitsubishi Electric and Schaeffler are collaborating to boost connectivity and to create Industry 4.0 solutions that reduce machine downtime and maximise productivity for customers, the firms said.

Schaeffler contributes concepts that combine mechatronic products, condition monitoring systems, and digital services to form application-specific 4.0 solution packages. These provide the basis for the creation of customised products and services, with the main focus on the effectiveness of the overall system.

Mitsubishi Electric offers a vast range of factory automation and processing technologies, including programmable logical controllers, inverters, robots, servo drives and human-machine interface, helping to bring higher productivity and quality to the factory floor.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and DEG (Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft) have agreed to subscribe the Women Entrepreneurs Bonds to be issued by Bank of Ayudhya in the amount of up to US$220 million.

The pioneering investment is supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, a joint initiative of IFC and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, to expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs globally.

The aim of this offering is to boost lending to women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs) in Thailand.

Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) expects to issue the bonds to IFC and DEG in October. Their subscriptions will be up to $150 million and $70 million, respectively. MUFG Securities Asia Ltd is the sole social-bond structuring adviser, arranger and placement agent.

This will be the first private-sector “gender” bond issuance in the Asia-Pacific region and the first social bond issuance in Asian emerging markets in compliance with the International Capital Markets Association Social Bond Principles and the Asean Social Bond Standards.

“Krungsri holds strong to our conviction in continuing to grow our business, while fulfilling the broader goal of financial inclusion for the underserved, including the WSME segment,” said Seiichiro Akita, Krungsri’s President and CEO.

“This issuance reaffirms our commitment to corporate citizenship practices and our broader ambition to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

More than half of the SMEs in Thailand, and especially those owned by women, lack adequate access to finance. The finance gap for WSMEs in the country is estimated to be $25 billion, accounting for 61 per cent of the overall micro and SME finance gap in Thailand.

“Sustainability is an important agenda for MUFG,” noted Augusto King, co-head of Debt Capital Markets Loans and Bonds Asia Pacific at MUFG. “This issuance will give women entrepreneurs across Thailand the chance to take their businesses to the next level and unleash fresh growth impetus in the country.”

This inaugural certified social bond issuance will help expand credit lines to WSMEs and promote the transparency and integrity of Asia’s nascent social bond market.

“The transaction demonstrates DEG’s commitment to promoting greater participation of women in the Thai economy to raise productivity, boost the living standards of families, and foster social cohesion,” said Monika Beck, a member of DEG’s Management Board.

Social bonds raise funds for projects that help improve social outcomes. This novel asset class provides investors with an attractive investment proposition as well as an opportunity to support projects with positive social impact.

Krungsri’s Women Entrepreneurs Bonds will introduce WSME loans as an attractive asset class for investors and pave the way for the issuance of future capital markets instruments that benefit socially-responsible initiatives in Thailand and the region. Through this offshore bond issuance, Krungsri will become a pioneer of women’s financing in Thailand.

“We are focused on closing gaps in access to finance and education for women entrepreneurs. That is why we support innovative capital solutions such as the first private-sector gender bond in the region,” said Cristina Shapiro, Global Director of 10,000 Women.

“Goldman Sachs research shows that closing the credit gap for women-owned SMEs in emerging markets could push income per capita an average of 12 per cent higher by 2030. Women entrepreneurs have real potential to impact Thailand’s future growth.”

“Instruments like the Women Entrepreneurs Bonds will allow investors to experience what IFC has observed for years – namely, that women entrepreneurs are a source of growth and sustainability for banks, communities, and countries,” said Philippe Le Houérou, the Chief Executive Officer of IFC. “Investing in women can improve the lives of families and drive business, thereby ensuring Thailand’s growth trajectory is inclusive and sustainable.”