It will be a hyper-scale facility to serve digital needs in the Greater Bangkok area.

TICON will hold a 51 per cent stake in the venture, with STT GDC holding the rest.

Frasers Property-STT GDC, will develop the first data centre on 15 rai (2.4 hectares) of land in Bangkok’s Ramkhamhaeng district. Construction is expected to start mid-2019 and is due for completion and service commencement in the following year.

This project is in line with the Thailand 4.0 initiative to develop a digital economy, as well as the government’s National Digital Economy masterplan. The digital economy is expected to bring robust growth and contribute up to 25 per cent of Thailand’s GDP by 2027. At the same time, public cloud spending in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan is expected to grow exponentially at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.58 per cent between 2016 and 2021.

The projected increase in digitalisation and digital transformation is expected to bring about a correspondent increase in demand for digital infrastructure and data-centre capacity in Thailand and the region, Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, chairman of TICON’s executive committee, said yesterday.

“We believe in the potential of expanding our focus to develop Thailand’s digital economy and transforming urban living with Smart Cities. Developing a digital infrastructure with a state-of-the-art data centre is one of our key investments in the new economy. We are delighted to partner with a reputed global player like STT GDC in this joint venture, and believe the combined strengths of both companies will best serve the digital growth plans of our customers,” he added.

Bruno Lopez, group chief executive officer of STT GDC, said this development marked their first foray into the Thai data-centre market, and will strengthen their expanding network across major data-centre markets around the world.

“With our ‘think global, act local’ mantra, we believe TICON, with their rich legacy and successful operating history in the country, will be a valuable partner. We are confident that with our expertise in designing, building and operating data centres to the highest global standards in key markets such as Singapore, China, India and the UK, and TICON’s understanding of the Thai market and navigating its regulatory environment, we will be able to meet the demands of our customers to support their digital growth and help them realise the Thailand 4.0 vision, ” he added.

VAT refunds will be returned to tourists in the form of cash in baht, encouraging them to continue shopping in Thailand with ease and convenience.

Apart from helping tourists, the campaign has been initiated to promote growth and balanced income distribution to small businesses.

As one of the founding parties of VAT Refund Centre (Thailand) Co Ltd, Siam Piwat said it was proud to be an official partner and representative to assist tourists with VAT refund processes in five locations across central Bangkok: Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, Central Chidlom, Robinson Sukhumvit and The Emporium.

Charnchai Cherdchoowongtha-nakorn, senior executive vice president of Siam Piwat’s retail business development division, said: “Siam Paragon is delighted to fully support the government’s policies and work with the Revenue Department. ‘Downtown VAT Refund for Tourists’ is set up to be a key area on G Floor, which tourists can find conveniently, as it is located by one of our entrances connected to the BTS Skytrain and taxi stops.

“Additionally, adept, knowledgeable and service-minded staff have been assigned to accommodate tourists with paperwork and essential procedures in order to fully and successfully comply with policies from the Revenue Department.

“Not only will shopping tourists of Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Siam Discovery find it convenient to proceed with VAT refund at Siam Paragon, all tourists who have purchased goods, in accordance with all policies by the Revenue Department, are welcomed to complete all necessary procedures at our department stores.

“The convenience of VAT refund at Siam Paragon is extremely helpful for those who have purchased in the popular shopping destination One Siam, as hundreds of SME businesses, small retailers and corporations are located in the area, covering a vast space of 2 million square metres, with over 20 hotels to accommodate international tourists in more than 3,000 rooms available – with extra support from Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain system, connecting Ratchathevi and National Stadium to Siam station,” Charnchai explained.

“According to statistics, out of 400,000-500,000 shopping tourists per day at One Siam, an average of 938 VAT Refund Forms (PP10) have been filled each day from shops and retail spaces in Siam Paragon, totalling to a signification amount of 342,494 applicants,” the executive added.

The initiative of establishing VAT refund counters directly impacts the tourism industry on multiple levels, according to the Revenue Department:

1. The retained money which tourists have spent after receiving VAT refunds helps small retailers and businesses, which, in turn, strengthens Thailand’s economy;

2. The growth in sales volume and sales value is proportional to the rate of economic growth and revenue from tourist spending;

3. A significant decline in VAT refunds at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports reflects a positive sign of service improvement; and

4.The VAT refund for tourists promotes better opportunities for local retail shops to generate more sales.

Chiranun Poopat, president of Central FamilyMart, said: “Today, the e-commerce market has grown continuously for more than 20 per cent annually, and individual consumers have also had a greater demand for express delivery over the past three to five years.”

“We have introduced Kerry Express, an express delivery service, available 24 hours a day at our FamilyMart stores in Bangkok and surrounding locations. The door-to-door express delivery will be provided to our individual customers so that they will be able to send their parcels to any locations throughout the Kingdom with fast and high-standard delivery process.

“With the strong capability of Kerry Express, a leading operator of logistics services, we believe in an ability to satisfy customers in using our express delivery service at every dimension, including fast and convenient in accessing express delivery service at our FamilyMart stores,” she said.

Chiranun added that for Christmas and New Year celebrations, FamilyMart would like to participate in these special times of happiness by offering a limited-edition parcel delivery box to its customers, free of charge.

Customers will be able to get the free box at FamilyMart stores for any purchase worth Bt79 or above via its express delivery service.

The convenience-store chain will also increase the choice for shoppers in selecting their New Year gifts with Khun Mae Ju, the well-known local food products from Phuket.

Customers can also get a limited-edition parcel delivery box free of charge when buying Khun Mae Ju products and using Kerry Express parcel delivery service at FamilyMart.

They will be able to select from many payment methods for the service, including points redemption from The 1 card, Rabbit card and Alipay.

The “Drink Nescafe before Driving” campaign will see the company hand out their ready-do-drink Nescafe Espresso Roast to over 100,000 drivers before they begin the journey home during December 29 to 31.

They will target five Highway Police Public Service Centres – Wang Manao, Wang Noi, Tubkwang and Prasatthat – which cover outbound routes from Bangkok to four regions nationwide, and Seeda, which covers outbound routes from Bangkok to all other regions.

Gen Zers are tech-savvy individuals with a deep and universal understanding of technology. They see technology not only as a tool of enabling human progress, but also as a means for levelling the information empowerment playing field.

Anothai Wettayakorn, vice president of Dell EMC Indochina, said that around 20 per cent of corporate workforce worldwide will be Gen Zers by 2023, according to studies.

Corporates need to prepare for workforce transformation in order to create the right environment and culture for this generation of workers or they will lose competitiveness.

He suggested five ways for corporate workforce transformation: to create the digital-first culture; to create a cross function complementary skill set; launch mentorship programme; to create human-machine partnership; and to integrate the workforce.

“ Companies need to create a digital-first culture, empowered by technology and strategy. It needs to integrate professional and digital savvy employees for cross function as well as to work well with machines and technologies,” said Anothai. He said that 2019 is the first year that Gen Zers will enter the workforce globally, including Thailand.

Dell will play the role of a technology consultant on workforce and digital transformation as well as on IT and security changes.

“Corporates need to invest in the right technologies to create a digital-first culture. They need to have new devices, mobile applications, new business model by adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence and mobile technology, new technology in business process such as virtual reality and augmented technologies in customer engagement,” said Anothai.

Anothai said Dell studied digital and workforce transformation in order to continue its leadership in the field and to encourage its customers to prepare for the challenge by investing in technology to bridge the gap as well as to accelerate their competitive advantages.

Apart from helping customers, Dell has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa) and the Electronic Transactions Development Agency, for the advisory role on technology know-how, technology framework, and technology experiences related to smart city, digital transformation, and cyber security.

It is a non-commercial term and Thailand is the second country where Dell has signed an MoU with government organisations, following Vietnam. Philippines and Sri Lanka are the next two countries that Dell will be advising .