Kang credits her background as a third-generation Korean-Chinese in enabling her, from a very young age, to broaden her perspective and look at issues from different points of view.

And that’s also to the benefit of Bayer Thai, where she has risen to become the smallholder-farming manager for Southeast Asia at the German multinational.

Kang, who has been with Bayer for nine years, believes adaptability is the key component in the success she has enjoyed in boosting farm incomes for Bayer clients.

Kang started off with Bayer in 2009, working as a sales manager for Bayer Crop Science Korea Ltd for more than three years and then as sales excellence manager, covering 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region. Kang has also worked in China as the company’s national channel manager.

In her current role in Thailand with a focus on smallholder farming, she is also responsible for the company’s activities in this field in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Her bachelor’s degree in German and a master’s degree in linguistics helped Kang kick off her career with Bayer almost a decade ago. But it was not by chance – she always had the dream to work for a German multinational company.

“I wanted to work in a German company because I thought the German working culture was very structured, efficient and productive,” she recalls. “This led me to apply for a position in Bayer in South Korea where I worked for Bayer Korea for three and a half years.”

In her current position, Kang is responsible for the development and implementation of business models for smallholder farmers in the Asean region.

“My current goals are to improve the livelihoods of farmers and to ensure sustainable value creation in the segment. In Thailand, with the local team, we are continuously working to identify the needs of smallholder farmers in the rice industry,” she says.

“My aim is to provide holistic and innovative solutions that can empower smallholder farmers to unlock their farming potential. The effort goes to providing good agricultural practice training for smallholder farmers, as well as introducing new technology such as the drone application to local farmers in the region.

“There are many people who cannot adapt to new working environments, especially when they move abroad. I believe my unique cultural background allows me to approach problems from both a South Korean and a Chinese point of view when working in both South Korea and China respectively.”

She has always had a passion for learning, understanding and adapting to different cultures. That passion powered her aspiration to work in Southeast Asia.

“When I opened myself to different cultures, I could see a lot of new opportunities in different markets, and I started to wonder what Bayer could do to help farmers in different markets in Asia, especially rice farming in the Asean region,” she says.

Kang’s open mindset and adaptability also allowed her to overcome one of her biggest challenges while working with Bayer – helping the company to be more customer-centric.

“When I first entered the company in 2009, it was undergoing a holistic transformation to become more customer-centric,” she says. “This meant reaching out more to customers in order to gain a better understanding of their needs, before developing new technologies to improve their livelihoods, as well as focusing more on their feedback about our products.

“Customers’ satisfaction means a lot to us. It was an important mindset shift. We had to make sure we embed a customer-centric approach in everything we do.”

Kang looks back on the period as having presented a steep learning curve.

“But this helped me to grow in a very short time period, “ she says. “There was excitement in working to transform the company in such a drastic way, but at the same time, the intensive workload and the uncertainty which came with the transformation process was also a key source of stress for me.

“I overcame this challenge by identifying and adapting to the higher stress level, so I started to use this stress to drive me forward. I started to communicate more with my colleagues and fostered a trusting relationship with them.”

Kang found that, by being as open as possible with her colleagues, this approach helped with the transformation process. She was able to explain to them why the company was so rigorous on certain issues, such as the need for a change in working styles.

“Transforming a company involves collective determination and effort from all employees to change both the mindset towards work and the execution of various tasks,” she says.

Hence, when she gained understanding from her colleagues, she was able to push for the transformation that the company needed.

In the coming years, Kang aims to work more closely with farmers either as a general manager in one particular country or in a specific topic covering several countries. This is because either path would allow her to have more direct contact and communication with local farmers, stakeholders and local colleagues – a key aspect of her work that motivates her to further improve Bayer’s services.

“I find that interacting with local farmers is a very meaningful experience. Bringing services to these farmers and improving their livelihoods is something very valuable,” she says. “Not so long ago a farmer told me that after this season’s harvest, they were going to be able to afford a new door for their house. It is conversations like this that push me to improve Bayer’s services for our local farmers.”

As mobile payments experience rapid growth in the region, Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings is considering launching WeChat Pay, its digital payments platform service, in Thailand, says Royal Chen, vice president of financial technology for Tencent.

“We are considering which approach – doing the payment service by ourselves or working with local partners – is more suitable to launch WeChat Pay Thailand,” Chen told a group interview for Thai media on Wednesday in Hangzhou.

Chen is responsible for the product planning and operation in both the China and international payment services for the company. Tencent is thinking about partnering with certain Thai business sectors, particularly banks, to provide the service because payment needs to be localised in different countries.

“A local partner is important,” Chen stressed several times during the interview.

Thailand is a key market for the company, given the huge number of users of WeChat, Tencent’s popular social network, Chen said.

However, the firm has no timeline to launch WeChat Pay Thailand, he added.

WeChat Pay service is currently provided in Thailand for Chinese tourists, to ensure they have a good experience while away from home.

China remains the largest contributor in terms of both arrivals and tourism revenue to Thailand and, on average, they spend more than other tourists – above Bt5,000 per person a day, according to data from the tourism authority.

Chinese accounted for nearly one-third of last year’s record 35 million arrivals but the number began to fall in August this year, plunging 11.77 per cent from a year earlier due to a boat accident that killed over 40 Chinese in Phuket in early July.

WeChat Pay has about 800 million active monthly users, most of them Chinese nationals, according to Tencent. The payment feature integrated into the WeChat app is now supported by merchants in over 40 countries, including Thailand.

In August this year, WeChat launched payment features in Malaysia called WeChat Pay My, its first market in Asia beyond mainland China and Hong Kong.

The WeChat Malaysia’s payment feature will enable local businesses to engage with their customers under the same platform, and make or transfer payments in Malaysian ringgit.

“The outcome is beyond our expectations, and we are expecting the digital wallet in Malaysia will grow faster than in others and even faster than in Hong Kong,” Chen said.

In 2016, Tencent launched WeChat Pay HK in Hong Kong with transaction growth exceeding ten-fold last year. Although it’s difficult for Chen to forecast the trend of mobile payments for the next three years because the system has been in use for just four years in China, his guess it that developments could speed up and cover more business sectors.

Convenience highlighted

Payment technology developments aim for convenience and ease of use, and for users to feel like they are at home even while travelling, with no need to worry about currency exchange rates, Chen said.

“In the future, mobile payment systems will be part of your daily life. It’s just like you drive a car to your home [today] and have a very good experience or enjoy making a payment from your home. You can order coffee and the shop will send a messenger to facilitate your payment,” Chen said.

Also, payment systems in the future will be cashless. Consumers may not need to scan the QR code when doing transactions, because everything will be on cloud services and big data, he said.

From the consumer’s point of view, they do not need to bother with which method of payment they are using, because all their data is already in the cloud and it’s safe, he said.

“We can use voice recognition or facial recognition in order to identify users when they want to make a payment transaction,” he added.

During his speech titled “Exploration of Cross-border Mobile Payment, its Development and Challenges Ahead” at the Money 20/20 conference held in Hangzhou on Wednesday, Chen said mobile payments are developing rapidly in China with support from the regulatory authorities. The growth will continue and penetrate different segments of society, he said.

Tencent will continue to actively explore reaching out to overseas markets via three channels – Chinese outbound tourists, WeChat Pay and the Open Payment Platform.

He cited the success story of WeChat Red Packet since its 2014 launch. The Red Packet continues to break its own records from time to time. That mobile application was developed by Tencent based on the Chinese tradition of hongbao in which money is given to family and friends as a gift.

WeChat Red Packet transactions in one week during this year’s Chinese New Year were 768 million yuan (Bt3.64 billion), Chen said.

In October, Tencent launched the first of its kind cross-border mobile payment service, allowing WeChat Pay HK users to conduct yuan-denominated transactions with Hong Kong dollars in mainland China.

Chen noted the WeChat mini-programmes, tax refunds dubbed the “We Tax Refund”, that enable Chinese tourists to quickly apply for tax refunds from within the app while abroad or once they have returned home.

The service is now open in 81 airports and 19 countries, but not yet in Thailand, though Chen said his firm has a plan to bring it here.

“We are willing to cooperate with partners to facilitate the development of mobile payments globally,” he said.

The first is a sugarcane leaf remover, which facilitates manual sugarcane harvesting and reduces the need to burn sugarcane leaves, and the second is a sugarcane cut remover, which allows sugarcane farmers to finish harvesting in one go. The company said that these two implements will ensure that professional cane farmers have fresh sugarcane to deliver to sugar factories with higher incomes.

Somsak Mauthorn, Senior Executive Vice President of Siam Kubota, stated: “As a result of the government’s zoning policy that promotes the conversion of paddy fields in geographically unfavorable areas into plantations of economic crops, such as sugarcane, cassava, and maize. It has found that some farmers have turned to do sugarcane farming.

“Today, there are sugarcane farms in 47 provinces, totaling over 11 million rai, about five of which is in the Northeast. As much as 60 per cent of these sugarcane farmers rely on manual labor for harvesting.

“Many farm workers burn their sugarcane before cutting to make harvesting easier. However, this harvesting method leads to pollution creating as well as sweetness reducing the sugar. In addition, many areas confront labor shortages. Furthermore, the company has conducted research and developed products specifically for sugarcane harvesting to enhance productivity and quality as well as labor costs and time saving, to ultimately meet the demand of sugarcane farming today.”

The company has unveiled its two latest implements for sugarcane farming. The first is a sugarcane leaf remover (SLR110H), Tra Chang brand for 24-27 hp Kubota tractors, equipped with four sets of rollers that spin at over 900 rpm and enable the instrument to cleanly strip leaves from sugarcane stalks.

The rollers have also been designed to rotate upwards to reduce damage to the plants. With an operational radius of 2.1 meters and a leaf stripping radius of 2.3 meters, the machine will help planting more accessible for farmers and facilitate harvesting. The implement is also equipped with a protector that prevents bits of sugarcane leaves from collecting inside the machine and can operate continuously for a maximum of 15 rai per day.

The other implement is a sugarcane cut remover (SCR100), Tra Chang brand for the 95-hp Kubota tractor. The harvesting combines four systems that function all at once: the trimming system that cuts sugarcane tops at the height of 1.5-4 meters; the leaf stripping system with rollers that spin at over 900 rpm to yield cleanly-stripped cane stalk.The harvesting system that cuts flush with the ground; and the loading system that can carry a maximum 500 kg of sugarcane products and put freshly-cut sugarcane stalks into piles in preparation for loading onto trucks.

Designed for sugarcane plantations with furrows spaced one meter apart and over to reduce limitations of accessibility, the machine can harvest 40-80 tons of sugarcane per day.

“For over 40 years, the company has never stopped researching and developing innovative agricultural machinery to meet the needs of professional sugarcane farmers and optimise the entire sugarcane farming process, from soil preparation, planting, maintaining, and transportation. We have demonstrated our capacity to be the generator of agricultural innovation for the future,” added Somsak.

The new blending technology helps preserve three times the amount of vitamin C after eight hours compared to normal blending, the company said. You can taste the freshness and enjoy brighter smoothies with less separation, foam and bubbles.

According to the World Health Organisation, a healthy diet should consist of at least 400 grams or five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. What is more, eating the recommended daily amount of fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of lifestyle related diseases, and helps ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fibre.

Siriwan Nitkitjatorn, Gerneral Manager Personal Health of Philips (Thailand), said: “According to the research, Thai consumers are getting more health conscious and fruits and vegetables have become preferred food choice. The love for smoothies have become more popular as well due to its convenience in preparation and its tastiness. Hence, the blender market segment is growing each year. Based on GFK survey, the segment values Bt1.5 billion in 2018, a YoY increase by 16 per cent.

“As the leader in health technology, Philips believes there is always a way to make life better, and understands how tricky it can be for people to fit the right amount of fruit and vegetables into their diet. Healthy smoothies are a simple and delicious way to do this, and with the Philips High Speed Vacuum Blender you can seal in the goodness of your smoothie and enjoy the freshness throughout the day.

“The StayFresh Vacuum technology reduces oxidation within the blender’s jar and keeps your smoothie fresher – preserving three times the amount of vitamin C after eight hours compared to normal blending,” said Siriwan.

Convenient and easy to use, this new blender has a 1.8 litre jar. It also features ProBlend 6 3D technology, which has blades that cover a wider blending area. The ‘High Speed Vacuum Blender’ comes with five functions.

For Broadcasting Network Operation Service, we gained a 6 per cent increase, at Bt109 million, compared to the same period of last year.

“In addition, New media revenue amounted to Bt24 million, a 17 per cent increase from the previous quarter and a 41 per cent increase from the same period of last year, due to increased revenue from broadcast of content on social media platforms.

“In 2019, MCOT will focus on managing our three properties to earn more income, especially the 50 rai near the Cultural Centre. We are consulting an investment adviser and plan to proceed with a public-private partnership venture on our properties.

“Furthermore, the new schedule and programmes of MCOT HD 30 will be announced on November 29. We cooperate with our partners, both domestic and international firms, to offer more quality content for our viewers. For MCOT Radio Business, we aim to provide more content on the digital platform to reach more listeners.”

On the back of this partnership, CIMB will join Ripple’s network to facilitate access to other RippleNet members and allow CIMB to grow its cross-border payments business.

Ripple’s blockchain-based solution has been deployed to enhance Speedsend, CIMB’s proprietary remittance product. This will expand CIMB’s Speedsend network and open new payment corridors to improve consumer access to cross-border remittances, both inbound to the Asean bloc and outbound to other countries.

The solution is now live on Speedsend, enabling remittances via corridors such as Australia (in partnership with InstaReM, also a member of RippleNet), the US, the UK and Hong Kong.

“We are delighted to be part of RippleNet and look forward to a fruitful partnership with Ripple by leveraging each other’s strengths and capabilities,” said Zafrul Aziz, chief executive of CIMB Group. “This innovative blockchain solution will revolutionise international cross-border remittances, and is a testament to CIMB’s ongoing efforts to enhance its digital banking proposition by providing speedy and cost-efficient solutions to our customers across Asean.”

As part of the overall partnership roadmap, CIMB intends to extend the solution to other use cases across the group. There is a growing demand for cross-border payment solutions, with the World Bank projecting that remittances to Southeast Asia will grow to US$120 billion (Bt3.95 trillion) by the end of 2018.

Meanwhile, Visa digital payments and watchmaker Garmin, in partnership with leading financial institutions, yesterday announced the launch of Garmin Pay, a new contactless payment feature on Garmin smartwatches.

Starting yesterday, customers of Kasikornbank, Krungthai Card and Siam Commercial Bank were able to add their Visa credit or debit card to their Garmin watches, while Bangkok Bank was in line to launch the same by first quarter 2019.

The feature offers a new cashless experience featuring seamless purchases through a growing number of merchants that accept the no-contact process. The emergence of this payment innovation and technology marks yet another milestone helping to transform Thailand into a less-cash society, said Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa country manager for Thailand.

Krairop Luang U-Thai, general manager of GIS, the authorised distributor of Garmin products in Thailand said Garmin Pay is the latest feature to be offered on their smartwatch.

The wearer can select the credit card they want to input to the watch and create a Garmin Pay Wallet by filling in the card information on the Garmin Connect application along with their passcode. Customers would then only have to place their wrist near a card reader that supports contactless payments in order to purchase goods and services.

Garmin Pay uses tokenisation offered by the global payment networks to secure users’ information. The tokenised data is saved in an isolated safety chip within the device so to keep sensitive data away from malware or viruses.

In addition to Thailand, Garmin Pay is also now available in 22 countries .