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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024403

Volvo targets 100% electric vehicle sales by 2025

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Volvo Car (Thailand) has set itself the ambitious target of selling only electric vehicles by 2025, five years ahead of the company’s global target of 2030.

Chris Wailes, managing director of Volvo Car (Thailand), told a media briefing on Friday that he sees strong demand for electric vehicles (EV) in Thailand, and the trend would continue to grow significantly.

He cited the rapid improvement of EV-related infrastructure, such as charging stations, and people’s environmental awareness, as well as the high price of fossil fuel. He believes these factors would encourage more Thais to switch to EVs.

The entry of new global players like Tesla will increase market competition.

“Competition is always beneficial. Every competitor drives us to learn, adapt, and improve in order to better meet the needs of our customers,” Wailes said.

He added that Thais were more receptive than Europeans when it came to trying new technology.

Amid the overall promising signs in the market, Volvo Car (Thailand) is confident of becoming a seller of only EVs by 2025, he said.

“We will continue to strengthen our position as the leader in the premium EV segment,” he said.

“We are delighted that drivers in Thailand are so enthusiastic about electric-powered vehicles, and we are confident that our bold ambition to sell only fully electric cars in 2025 will be successful.”

His assurance comes as Volvo reports a 71% increase in full-year sales in 2022, as consumers show an increasing desire to drive electric vehicles.

Despite production constraints caused by component shortages, demand for Volvo Cars in Thailand remained strong, he said.

The sales of fully electric models, such as the C40 Recharge Pure Electric and the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric increased by 190 per cent by 2022, accounting for more than one-third of total vehicle sales.

Volvo Cars’ Recharge lineup also saw a 24% increase in sales, accounting for 64.8% of the company’s total sales volume, he said.

The Volvo Car (Thailand) CEO also revealed plans to launch two new pure electric models.

He added that strong profitable returns for dealers and partners are another key focus of Volvo Car (Thailand).

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024398

Long way to go for enterprises in implementing “zero trust” system to reduce cyber-risk

FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

A recent study by Gartner predicts that about 10% of the world’s large enterprises will have a mature and measurable cybersecurity system known as the “Zero-Trust Program” in place by 2026.

The study, titled “Predicts 2023: Zero Trust Moves Past Marketing Hype Into Reality”, which was formally released on Friday, revealed that the majority of organisations view zero trust as a crucial risk-reduction strategy.

John Watts, Garner’s vice president analyst, describes zero trust as a security paradigm that explicitly identifies users and devices and grants them just the right amount of access, allowing the business to operate with minimal friction while reducing risks.

“Zero trust is a shift in thinking to address these threats by requiring continuously assessed, explicitly calculated and adaptive trust between users, devices, and resources,” he noted.

Unfortunately, the study found out that very few businesses have actually finished implementing zero-trust.

According to Watts, many organisations built their infrastructure with implicit rather than explicit trust models to simplify access and operations for workers and workloads.

However, those models are insufficient in terms of safety.
Attackers take advantage of this implicit trust in infrastructure to establish malware and then move laterally to achieve their goals, he explained.

Watts suggested that chief information security officers (CISOs) and risk management leaders begin developing an effective zero-trust strategy that balances the need for security with the need to run the business.

The move will assist organisations in completing the scope of their zero-trust implementations.

He stated that once the strategy is established, CISOs and risk management leaders must begin with identity, which is the foundation of zero trust.

“They must also improve not only technology, but also the people and processes that are used to create and manage those identities,” he added.

However, he cautioned CISOs and risk management executives against assuming that zero trust will eliminate cyber-threats. Rather, zero trust reduces the risk of an attack and its consequences.

According to the current progress, Gartner predicts that by 2026, 10% of large enterprises will have implemented a mature and measurable zero-trust programme, up from less than 1% today.

Meanwhile, Gartner analysts also forecast that through 2026, more than half of cyber-attacks will be aimed at areas that zero-trust controls don’t cover and cannot mitigate.

Jeremy D’Hoinne, VP Analyst at Gartner stated that attackers would quickly consider pivoting and targeting assets and vulnerabilities outside of the scope of zero-trust architectures.

This can include scanning and exploiting public-facing APIs, targeting employees via social engineering, bullying, or exploiting flaws caused by employees creating their own “bypass” to avoid stringent zero-trust policies, he explained.

Gartner said that organisations should implement zero trust to improve risk mitigation for the most critical assets first, as this is where the greatest return on risk mitigation will occur.

However, zero trust does not address all security concerns. CISOs and risk management leaders must also implement a continuous threat exposure management programme to improve inventory and optimise their exposure to threats beyond the scope of zero-trust architectures.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024376

US cloud computing firm sees more room for growth in Asia

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Nutanix, an American company that says its platform simplifies and integrates cloud computing, says three key cloud-computing trends are prevalent across the Asia Pacific and Japan region.

The trends were announced during an online media briefing on Tuesday by the company’s vice president of sales for the region.

Aaron White, Nutanix’s general manager and vice president of sales for the Asia Pacific and Japan region, said companies need to abandon the patchwork approach to information technology.

White said the three main trends are: 1) identifying true cloud implementation requirements, 2) remaining vigilant and agile in the face of uncertainty, and 3) keeping ahead of the explosion in app development and reigning in database sprawl.

“It’s time for organisations to take a step back and abandon their patchwork information technology in favour of more permanent, scalable solutions that will truly stand the test of time,” he said.

In terms of the second trend, White explained that macroeconomic uncertainty is putting customers on edge. Companies in the Asia Pacific region are now attempting to figure out how to build resilient, adaptable organisations while controlling costs.

“Standing still is no longer an option, even to maintain the status quo,” he said.

Regarding the third trend, he said that many organisations can’t see where everything is located and lack the capacity to manage the sprawl caused by having apps and databases spread across multiple clouds and environments.

“Having a unified environment with the same policies and tooling, visibility across all clouds, and leveraging automation are all necessary for digital organisations looking to take control of their data to succeed,” he said.

Aaron White

He also said that the three trends came at a high cost and posed numerous challenges.

As a result, companies must find a management path that balances costs with improving business.

Cloud computing is no longer an option for businesses looking to strengthen their operations and secure their immunity to cybersecurity threats, he said.

Despite fierce competition, the cloud computing segment remains promising and presents more opportunities for growth, White said.

Cloud services have become one of the solutions many companies across the region are using during uncertain macroeconomic times, he explained.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024372

Nation Group rights issue gets overwhelming response, oversubscribed by 20%

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

Nation Group’s rights issue to fund its expansion plans has been oversubscribed by over 20%, the company’s top executive said on Thursday.

Nation Group CEO and president Shine Bunnag said that a large number of existing shareholders and investors had applied for the group’s rights offer, with the total subscription amount exceeding 900 million baht, compared to the company’s proposed capital increase of 732 million baht.

The rights issue offered shareholders two newly issued ordinary shares for every ordinary share at 0.09 baht a share.

The increased capital is intended to be used as a revolving fund to support Nation Group’s future business expansion under its One Nation strategy.
 

In December, Nation Group (Thailand) Plc’s board of directors approved a rights offering of 8,135,940,724 shares to existing shareholders.

Application for the rights issue was open from January 19 to 25.
Nation Group, which operates The Nation news website among many other media outlets, said on Thursday that the latest capital increase would raise the company’s registered capital from 2.1 billion baht at present to 6.46 billion baht.

Shine on Thursday thanked shareholders and investors for their “overwhelming interest” in Nation Group’s rights offer. “As the representative of the management, I am deeply impressed and grateful for your confidence in the organisation,” he said.

The president also said that the company aimed to pay dividend later this year, for the first time in eight years .

Shine said Nation Group is currently among Thailand’s strongest media organisations with a comprehensive stable of brands including Krungthep Turakij, Nation TV, Post Today, Nation Online, Kom Chad Luek, Spring Online, The Nation, Thansettakij, OK Nation, Khob Sanam, and The People.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024370

Minor expects collaboration with European NH brand to boost growth

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Minor Hotels is collaborating with the European NH Hotel Group as part of a strategy to attract more guests from western countries, which could boost the hotel chain’s growth by 20 per cent.

Dillip Rajakarier, Group CEO Minor International and CEO Minor Hotels, told a press conference on Thursday that the collaboration with NH Hotel Group, Europe’s fourth-largest hotel company, would provide more diverse and unique experiences for tourists visiting the country.

The move follows a strong rebound in Thailand’s tourism industry and is an effort to push occupancy rates to more than 75% as in 2019.

He explained that due to the limited number of flights arriving in Thailand, it would be difficult and time-consuming to restore the occupancy rate to pre-Covid-19 levels, hence Minor Hotels should focus on room rates instead.

Rajakarier expected the revenue of Minor Hotels in Thailand to continue growing with a 10-15% bottomline growth.

The NH Hotel brand made its debut recently in Thailand with the signing of NH Boat Lagoon Phuket Resort. The group will add two more properties in the country to its NH Collection.

NH Collection Chiang Mai Ping River is currently under development in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai. The new hotel will open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, work on the upcoming NH Collection Rayong Resort & Residences has begun. It is expected to open within the next two years.

“Our strategies will be for more joint investments with various funds and property owners, starting this year. We plan to expand our portfolio of hospitality management contracts and franchise opportunities under the Oaks, NH Hotel, and Avani brands,” Rajakarier explained.

The strategy is part of Minor Hotels’ commitment to expanding NH Hotel Group’s brands, with 10 new properties set to open in Asia and the Middle East in 2023 and 2024.

Aside from two NH Collection hotels in Thailand, China will add three NH Hotels and two NH Collection hotels, and the Middle East will see the brand make its debut with three NH Collection openings — two in Dubai and one in Doha.

Overall, the six new NH Collection properties and two NH Hotels are set to launch in 2023, plus one NH Hotel and one NH Collection in 2024, adding 2,643 keys to the Minor Hotels group.

“This is just the start and we continue to explore opportunities to further grow the footprint of NH Collection, NH and nhow in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean,” Rajakarier stated.

Sriya Yongsakul, director of Phuket Boat Lagoon, who made the decision to rebrand her hotel with the NH brand, explained that the joint investment helped raise the bar in terms of hotel quality while expanding the hotel’s brand recognition, particularly in Europe and South America.

She praised Minor Hotels’ management for helping NH Boat Lagoon Phuket Resort address its current urgent pain point, which is a labour shortage.

Jirath Pavaravadhana, the chairman of Osmo Properties Group, which is the owner of the NH Collection Chiang Mai Ping River and the NH Collection Rayong Resort & Residences, anticipated that the hotel would draw both domestic and foreign guests who would spend more money while staying longer.

(From left) MC, Dillip Rajakarier, Sriya Yongsakul and Jirath Pavaravadhana

Rajakarier expressed confidence in Thailand’s tourism recovery, which will enable Minor Hotels to fully reopen and perform even better this year with the return of Chinese tourists, who account for 40% of all tourists.

He emphasised that Thailand is always a favoured tourist destination. The country is still ranked fourth in tourist spending.

Minor Hotels currently has more than 530 hotels in operation. Through Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Tivoli, M Collection, NH Collection, NH, nhow, Elewana, Marriott, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Radisson Blu and Minor International properties, Minor Hotels now operates in 56 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, South America and North America.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024361

“PT Service Masters” revolutionise petrol stations with 7-star quality

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

PTG Energy has launched its new service enhancement program by assigning “PT Service Masters” – experts in petrol station services – to provide 7-star services at selected PT stations nationwide, being the first brand in Thailand to do so.

After winning the “Business+ Product of The Year Awards 2022” jointly organised by Business+ magazine and College of Management Mahidol University, PTG Energy Public Company Limited continues its journey into 2023 as a modern organisation that focuses on improving service quality and customer satisfaction in all aspects. 

Intending to revolutionise old images of petrol service stations, PTG recently launched its new service-focused program titled “PT Service Master” at selected PT stations nationwide. Every PT Service Master is committed to taking care of customers, providing advice on products and services, and ensuring customers’ highest satisfaction and benefits from each visit to the PT station. The program aims to create a positive impression that prompts customers to come back in the future and establish PT as a top-of-mind brand among Thai motorists.

Pitak Ratchakitprakarn, president and chief executive officer of PTG, said that to increase service quality the company has been surveying customers’ needs and empathy, as well as collecting input from service staffers in the past five years. 

Under the program, PTG carefully handpicked qualified personnel who are well-trained in all aspects of petro station’s services and gave them personality training to become PT Service Masters, he added.

“PT Service Masters’ task is to upgrade the service quality of PT stations to the same level as 7-star hotels. At these pilot stations there will no longer be Dek Pump (pumping boys), but will have Service Masters instead,” said Pitak. 

“These specialists will assist customers in all aspects with a focus on selecting the best services and benefits for each customer, ranging from privileges of PT Max Card, motor oil change, and other promotional campaigns. PT Service Masters are also responsible for surveying customers’ needs and collecting feedback to further improve their service quality,” he added.

PTG has been selecting qualified personnel to join the PT Service Master workforce from within the organisation and by recruiting from the general public. The company has been providing extensive training in the petrol business and customer service by experts and instructors who are well-known at the national level. “PTG is committed to taking care of our employees and making them happy, which will prompt them to pass on the happiness to customers and surrounding communities,” added the CEO.

Currently, 200 PT Service Masters have been providing top-notch services at 100 selected PT stations. The company plans to increase the number of PT Service Masters to 500 within this year and to 2,000 in the next three years to expand the program’s coverage to all PT stations nationwide.

PTG is the first petrol service provider in Thailand that uses “Service Master” to take its service quality to the next level, distinguishing itself from other brands of petrol stations. The program is a huge success as can be seen from the 25% jump in PT Max Card membership subscriptions at petrol stations that have PT Service Masters.

PT Service Master

++Responsibilities

• Provide services to customers of PT petrol stations, ensure their highest satisfaction and maintain a customer base
• Provide consulting service and coordinate with other departments to solve problems related to customers’ usage of petrol station
• Present the company’s products, services and sales promotion campaigns to customers

++ Workforce overview

• 200 PT Service Masters at present 
• Stationed at 100 selected PT petrol stations nationwide 
• To be expanded to 500 PT Service Masters in 2023
• Target 2,000 PT Service Masters in three years, covering all petrol stations nationwide