The move was part of the company’s efforts to better serve customers with local knowledge and build a stronger presence in the region.

The centre is centrally located in downtown Bangkok in the 208 Wireless Road Building.

The centre will help PDI build deeper relationships and expand its capabilities to better serve customers in the Asia Pacific, its senior vice president for global ERP solutions, Drew Mize, has said.

He said that Bangkok is a great hub for PDI to recruit talent to support its business expansion in the region.

The centre is expected to reach above 30 employees by September, up from the current 24, and then scale to 50. Its goal is to create a world-class workplace for employees that inspires innovation, fosters collaboration and helps employees, customers and the community prosper.

Though its global headquarters are in Atlanta, United States, PDI has been in Thailand for 19 years.

Drew Mize, left, and Wong Sin Hin

Wong Sin Hin, the PDI vice president for sales and its managing director for Asia Pacific, added that there was another factor in its choice of Bangkok for its regional Centre of Excellence – PDI is impressed by the government’s strong support for the industrial sector and particularly the digital transformation under the Industry 4.0 initiative.

PDI cited a recent report by Nielsen, a global data analytics company, that found the convenience retail industry in Asia Pacific had expanded by 10 per cent in 2018, with the number of convenience stores reaching 73,000.

Thailand’s convenience retail sector represents a 58.3-per-cent share of its overall trade in 2018, with 29 per cent of consumers saying they visit a convenience store between two to three times a week.

Mize said that PDI software solutions could help customers grow their top-line revenue, optimise operations and unify their business across the entire value chain.

Currently PDI has over 1,500 customers worldwide.

Mize said PDI is investing heavily in Asia Pacific, which continues to grow, and that the company’s solutions are in a good position to help customers capitalise on the regional economic growth and thrive in today’s digital economy.

The winner is Gulf-PTT Tank consortium of Gulf Energy Development and PTT Tank Terminal.

State authority governor Somchint Pilouk said the IEAT has already submitted a revised draft contract for the consideration of the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Phase 3 of the Map Ta Phut port development – the first stage of development – is one of five key EEC projects. It is expected to go into operation in 2025.

Venture Hub adopts a one-stop-shopping approach in providing services and collaborating with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to help them expand.

“This is a significant milestone for DiMuto because it strengthens our capabilities in using disruptive innovation to grow the global agri-food cold chain market in a bigger way,” said founder and chairman Gary Loh.

“With PwC’s deep expertise in helping companies expand, we are confident of accelerating our expansion worldwide, as we continue rolling out our Track & Trace blockchain to benefit more industry players. Now that we have stronger resources, we envisage a faster rate of market adoption for DiMuto, which is platform-agnostic and interoperable among the different blockchain systems currently used by the big global retailers.”

DiMuto’s Track & Trace, which digitises each fruit into a traceable digital asset, tackles key issues that are hampering global trade in the cold chain market, including financing, supply chain transparency, food safety and waste.

It also levels the playing field for small and medium-sized fruit businesses to compete with the big global brands.

As it stands, Thailand’s Queen Frozen Fruits and Australia’s Morning Glory Enterprise are now using Track & Trace to monitor durians and spaghetti squash, respectively. During its three-month trial between March and June, DiMuto has tagged 1.2 million durians, apples, avocados, lemons and oranges for firms in the US, Thailand, Mexico, Australia and China.

“In today’s business environment, innovation is no longer just nice to have,” said Patrick Yeo, Venture Hub leader. “Businesses in all industries need to constantly innovate in order to keep up with the pace of change. Strengthening traceability in the food supply chain through innovative technologies is in line with our purpose of building trust in society and solving important problems, and we are pleased to be working with DiMuto in this regard.”

Both parties intend to develop a trust framework for Track & Trace by establishing a set of principles to enhance safety and security in the food supply chain.

He added that the bank expects to raise up to Bt10 billion through this lottery saving scheme and that new loans are forecast to reach Bt95 billion by the end of this year.

“We are introducing the lottery saving in time to serve the strong demand for agriculture loans this time of year, as farmers start preparing for a new planting season,” he said.

The lottery saving offers prizes worth Bt1 million a year and lottery saving holders also have the chance to win a prize every month. The draw will be made on the 16th of every month over a two-year period. The bonds can be purchased at BAAC’s branches nationwide, as well as through mobile application, 7-Eleveen and prepaid kiosks.

As of Friday, the daily average trading volume on the main bourse reached 4.3 trillion won ($3.63 billion), which marked the lowest level since 4.1 trillion won posted in January 2017, according to the Korea Exchange.

The figure marked a sharp decrease from May last year, when the figure reached a record high of 9 trillion won.

The decrease was largely attributable to the trade dispute between the United States and China, analysts said. Japan’s export restriction against South Korea implemented earlier this month also weighed on investors’ sentiment, they added.

Starting this month, without prior notice, Japan implemented strict regulations for exports of three key materials for chips and displays to South Korea, which Seoul believes to be in retaliation for a local court’s verdict to order Japanese firms to provide compensation for its wartime forced labor.

“Investors are taking a wait-and-see stance on the growing external uncertainties,” said Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities Co.

Analysts said investors’ sentiment is expected to remain weak down the road as Japan is seeking to further expand export curbs against South Korea.

Tokyo is moving to remove South Korea from a “whitelist” of trusted importers, which could affect an additional 1,000 industrial items.

“The anxiety rising from the uncertainties over the consequences of the exclusion from the whitelist is affecting the market,” said Kim Byung-yeon, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.

“We plan to file a complaint with the WTO on a date convenient for South Korea,” Deputy Trade Minister Kim Seung-ho said last week after returning home from Geneva, where he participated in a WTO meeting to win support from the international community and fend off export curbs by Tokyo.

Early this month, Japan implemented strict regulations for exports of three key materials to South Korea, which are crucial for the production of chips and displays, on the grounds that Seoul runs a lax system for the control of goods that can be diverted for military purposes.

Shortly after the announcement, the South Korean government said it will consider all measures, including filing a complaint with the WTO, and claimed that all allegations raised by Japan on the export control were groundless.

Japan is set to expand its restrictions to other areas by removing South Korea from a whitelist of trusted importers in the coming weeks, a move that could delay or disrupt the supply of such materials as it can affect more than 1,000 items.

The South Korean government is currently reviewing details of the request for consultation, which will be handed to the WTO as the first step for the lawsuit.

In line with such efforts, Seoul is also seeking to find a diplomatic settlement with Japan.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will use a series of multilateral talks in Thailand to reverse Japan’s recent export control measure against South Korea.

Kang is set to attend the annual ministerial gatherings involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations taking place in Bangkok next week.

Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee also visited Washington last week to highlight that Tokyo’s restrictions could disrupt global supply chains and have a negative impact on not only Asian companies but the world’s largest economy.

He added that THAI has already appointed an advisory team to see what changes are needed in terms of flight schedules and its tie-ups with other airlines that are part of Team Thailand, such as Thai Smile, Nok Air and Bangkok Airways.

“The advisory team will take two months to finalise the study and offer a proposal for our new flight schedule for 2020,” Sumeth said.

Under the restructuring, THAI will focus more on the international market and link up with other members of the Team Thailand for local flights, he said.

“Our new schedule will provide support for customers who fly by THAI to Bangkok and have to board a connecting flight to other locations in Thailand or neighbouring countries. The new schedules will ensure passengers have enough time to catch connecting flights,” Sumeth added.

The new THAI flight schedule will also link up with other Star Alliance airlines as well as Thai Smile.

“We believe that once the restructuring is complete, Thai Smile will improve its financial results in three to five years and will have space for expansion in the future,” THAI’s president said.

According to a source from the airline, the advisory team has told THAI to create a new department to manage such jobs as purchasing aircraft, setting up flight schedules and getting rid of old aircraft.

“This new department may be set up in the next six months, and should start operating by next year,” the source said.

Jaymart Mobile CEO Narathip Wirunechatapant said the “Jaymart 30th Phase 2: Super Affordable Campaign” is designed to increase the satisfaction of customers who wish to trade in or trade up their mobile phones. Under this campaign, customers can avail of special deals like trade in an old mobile phone for a discount, trade up an eligible old mobile phone to get an on-top discount of up to Bt5,000, subscribe for a best-value AIS package for a chance to get up to 50 per cent discount on mobile-phone purchases. The discount is given when customers subscribe for the package (with a new phone number, switch their subscription from another operator, or change their mobile-phone account from prepaid to monthly post-paid type). The percentage of discount varies, depending on the mobile-phone model and package customers have chosen.

Enjoy Card holders can get up to Bt1,200 on-top discount and credit-card holders can enjoy on-top discount plus  zero-interest payment plans for up to 36 months or a cashback of up to Bt18,000 with participating credit cards. Customers without a credit card and university students may buy mobile phones on payment plans via J-Money.

“To celebrate our 30th anniversary, we will constantly launch special promotions to assure customers that they will enjoy unique protection and benefits when buying a mobile phone from Jaymart Mobile. We take care of both you and your device,” said Narathip.

Trinupab Jiratritarn, CEO at Creatus Corporation Ltd, said the company’s goal is to introduce new, sophisticated solutions to retailers in Thailand, so they can apply these solutions to boost their business and achieve maximum efficiency.

The Cash Infinity (CI) system offers both compact cash-management machines like the CI-10 and CI-50 as well as larger versions such as the CI-100 system that’s designed to handle large amounts of notes and coins, as well as provide change.

One of the key features of the CI system is that it helps with retail businesses’ front and back-office cash management by taking the strain out of retail cash processes. The system helps save cost, making cash and store-staff management more efficient in serving customers.

“A problem that most executives face at present is that store staff have to take charge of handling large amounts of cash. If the store is doing brisk business and the queue is getting longer, staff will feel under pressure, worrying over whether they’ve given the correct change. If they make mistakes on duty, then they have to stump up the difference,” Trinupab said.

Furthermore, at the end of the business day, if there’s a supervisor in charge, there will be an overlap between money-counting tasks, while without a supervisor, the shopkeeper will have to step in to complete the time-consuming task. If staff work in shifts, then there’ll be the need to sort through coins and banknotes of various denominations and prepare change for use the following day. There is also the threat of counterfeit notes as well.

Therefore, the CI solution helps reduce the burden of front-office cash processes, so the store staff can concentrate on providing the best customer service. This results in better business development as the CI system is designed to shoulder the burden of cash-handling activities.

The social media giant revealed on Thursday that it had removed several pages, groups and accounts on Facebook and Instagram and found that these organisations were located in Thailand, Russia, Ukraine and Honduras.

Nathaniel Gleicher, head of the company’s cybersecurity department, said several companies had posted misleading information about their real identities and activities.

As a result, he said, 12 Facebook accounts and 10 Facebook pages had been removed “for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behaviour” that was located in Thailand and primarily involved in cyberattacks on Thailand and the US.

The attackers’ offending behaviour included sharing content and comments that dissented with the majority on such topics as Thai politics, US-China relations, protests in Hong Kong and criticism of democracy activists in Thailand.

Facebook also found that some of these activities were linked to an individual based in Thailand who is associated with New Eastern Outlook, a Russian government-funded journal based in Moscow.

The US-based company has recently launched a crackdown after being criticised for not acting quickly enough to combat the posting of extremist content and propaganda.