B.Grimm Power Pcl, Thailand’s leading industrial power producer, has been included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2022 for the first time, and awarded with the “Industry Mover” distinction.
B.Grimm Power Pcl, Thailand’s leading industrial power producer, has been included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2022 for the first time, and awarded with the “Industry Mover” distinction.
The honours follow B.Grimm Power’s strongest year-on-year score improvement within the Electric Utilities industry.
“At B.Grimm Power, sustainability is the core,” said Dr Harald Link, chairman and president of the company.
“This milestone reflects our commitment to empower the world compassionately, through sustainable business practices covering economic, environmental, and social dimensions underpinned by good governance principles.”
The Sustainability Yearbook ranks global sustainability leaders based on the S&P Global ESG scores evaluated through the annual corporate sustainability assessment.
To be listed in the yearbook, companies must score within the top 15 per cent of their industry and must achieve an S&P Global ESG score within 30 per cent of their industry’s top-performing company. This year, over 7,500 companies were assessed, 716 of which were recognised as yearbook members.
Throughout 2021, B.Grimm Power also earned other recognitions for corporate sustainability performance at local and global levels. These recognitions include an “A” rating from the MSCI ESG Ratings; being named a member of the FTSE4Good Index Series for two years in a row; being part of the ESG 100 Group of Securities from the Thaipat Institute; and being honoured, for four consecutive years, as one of Thailand Sustainability Investment’s list of 146 companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand with sustainable business operations.
B.Grimm Power also received the “Excellent” (5 stars) rating in the Corporate Governance Report 2021 of the Thai Institute of Directors for two years in a row, which reflects the company’s commitment to promote sustainable business growth under the principles of good governance and responsible value chain management by taking into account the economic, social and environmental impacts, the company said.
Digitization of work is no longer just a buzzword. Fast forward 24 months has been an unexpected longtail impact of COVID-19 and yet we are still bogged down with continuous changing variant one wave after another causing further prolonged periods of lockdowns and worldwide travel restrictions.
This prolonged pandemic crisis had created immense operational backlash and logistical challenges for organizations who had downplayed the first wave of COVID-19 as well as the timely adoption of new Digitization of work to manage a long-term virtual or hybrid workforce.
The significant shifts are evident in forcing many organizations business operation to become ever more digitally agile to sustain, adapt, and thrive in the volatile and fast changing market conditions brought about by COVID-19.
Looking back, in the early wave of pandemic, we have witnessed how digitalization has driven technology’s adoption in the products and delivery of services as well as changes in digitization of work in the organizations. Digitization of work has allowed staff to learn and develop new capabilities, explore new opportunities, and utilize their creativity in ways that benefit to the organization. It has promoted both versatility of a virtual workforce and the opportunity to improve processes, streamline, and increase operational efficiencies within an organization.
With cashflow management visibility and operational budgeting becoming a top priority in many organizations to manage the prolonged pandemic crisis, the next wave of digitalization efforts should be focused on the finance function. Many of the challenges faced in the finance function are a result of the digital-manual hybrid state of financial operations causing late nights on tedious and manual tasks.
Transitioning to a digital finance organization would streamline the efficiencies into the organizations which will enable the finance team to run smoothly even in times of crisis. Removing the traditional manual and labor-intensive finance operations workplace to run digitally can be a strategic advantage. Leveraging on digital finance processing technology to interact with others and drive the finance business processes, the virtual finance workforce can gather, analyze finance data to generate valuable insights. For example, the utilization of the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to manage and process the travel and expenses can automate the generation of expense reports to manage and tighten expense management.
In essence, virtual teams need a coherent shared digital environment if they are to be productive. If team members are drawn from various geographical locations, cultures, or organizations from different digital environments, it becomes imperative for the organization to negotiate and determine within itself what tools its own shared digital environment should contain.
We have identified three key features which can help support virtual teams to thrive in the digital work environment: building a safe environment for freedom of opinions, technological capabilities of employees, and support from management.
• Building a safe environment for freedom of opinions The safe environment for opinions will create a nurturing culture for team members to believe they can speak up freely, without being judged, and that they will be confident in sharing unique ideas and participate in developing creativity at work. If employees can express their thoughts and ideas, an organization could recognize and apply their views to improve, change, and modify the work process, which will enhance the overall work efficiency and help a company to adapt agilely in digital transformation process and journey. Moreover, right, or wrong, new opinions come from those who experience the process themselves to modify their work scheme.
• Technological capabilities of employees The second factor behind the team’s efficiency of remote work is the employee’s technological capabilities. Technology competencies are abilities to apply business tools and platforms and utilize digital communication. We may notice changes from digital transformation, but each employee might have a different level of technological knowledge, causing them to face limitations when managing these technologies. Therefore, enhancing technology skills is essential for transforming the work methods of the organization.
• Support from top management The last and perhaps the most crucial factor in digital work is management’s support. Support from management is necessary to improve flexibility and empower teams to explore and implement distinct work methods, which might be a better procedure, including work processes that may modify the standard working environment of the company.
In conclusion, organizational digital transformation cannot happen without support from the top management. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the traditional way of a workforce operates and there is no looking back. It is imperative for organizations to empower their workforce with the “flexibility” to work from anywhere solidifying a virtual and hybrid workforce, providing real-time collaboration, and minimizing tedious and manual processes. When work happens in the digital world, then our concept of the workplace must follow suit, or we would miss the opportunities to help teams to be as successful as they can be.
The baht opened stronger at 33.09 to the US dollar on Friday from Thursday’s closing of 33.17.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 33.00 and 33.15 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted.
He added that the baht is likely to swing sideways owing to the weakening of the dollar near the support level and the strengthening of the baht.
He added that the baht will fluctuate heavily before the US employment data is revealed. In addition, he said, other risk factors such as the Russia-Ukraine situation may put the market at a risk-off state, which will cause the dollar to advance.
The support level for the Thai currency will stand at 33.10 – a level importers are waiting for so they can purchase dollars. Meanwhile, the baht’s resistance level will be from 33.40 – a level eyed by exporters so they can offload their dollars, he added.
Commere Minister Jurin Laksanawisit has said that the world economy and that of neighbouring economies still have opportunities to grow, while the baht’s continued depreciation, as compared to the first half of 2021, will only increase the competitiveness of Thai exports.
He said Thailand can take advantage of the Laos-China train route, and export Thai products via Vientiane to China conveniently.
There are 97 trade checkpoints in border areas, 48 of which have already opened, and 12 more will open this year.
As for the goals of border trade and cross-border trade in 2022, he said after discussions with the private sector, they were aiming for 5-7 per cent growth, with export value in the region of 1.08-1.10 trillion baht.
But there are still two major risk factors: the Covid-19 situation and the Omicron variant, and the political situation in Myanmar, which may affect the number of Thai border exports to Myanmar, especially Myanmar’s foreign currency controls to restrict imports and reduce Myanmar’s foreign trade deficit problem.
In 2021, border trade and cross-border trade were valued at 1.715 trillion baht, an increase of 30.03 per cent, exports were worth 1.031 trillion baht, an increase of 34.60 per cent, and imports were worth 684.015 billion baht, an increase of 23.70 per cent.
The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) asked the government on Wednesday for a 200-million-baht fund to set up a so-called “tourism clinic” to improve the skills of service sector staff and create a communal online database of hoteliers and those in the entire tourism sector.
Speaking at a press event, TCT chairman Chamnan Srisawat also asked for general governmental support to help restart a large number of businesses affected by the Covid crisis, as well as a “subsidy” for some 5,000 buses owned by tourism-related transport companies each month to maintain incomes and employment of the drivers and crews.
A lecturer speaking at the event, Phakakrong Theppharak of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya, cited a local tourism market confidence score of 47 on 100 in the final quarter of 2021 as being very low in recent years, though it was higher than that of the third quarter when the outbreak hit Thailand the hardest.
She said the score had been expected to reach 63 in the first quarter of 2022, which is regarded as positive. Precisely 342,024 foreign tourists came to Thailand in the final quarter of 2021, with the entire year seeing 427,869 visitors, generating around 37.73 billion baht in income for the domestic tourism industry. Pre-Covid tourist spending was reported to be Bt80,926 per person per trip.
The last year has seen 6 per cent of tourism businesses shutting down and the hotel occupancy rate plunging to 32 per cent, while the remaining 57 per cent of hotels that did remain operational suffered from no profits.
The baht opened at 33.14 to the US dollar on Thursday, strengthening from Wednesday’s closing rate of 33.23.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 33.10 and 33.25 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted.
Poon put the fluctuation down to current market sentiments. He said that if the market is in a risk-on state, then interest in the dollar would fall and the baht would strengthen.
However, there are some risk factors, such as the Russia-Ukraine situation. This might put the market in a risk-off state, which would cause the dollar to advance.
Poon advised investors to wait for the results of key meetings by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, which might come out with new respective monetary policy directions.
“If they go in for tighter monetary policies or are worried about inflation, the euro and pound might strengthen and cause the dollar to weaken,” he pointed out.
Poon said the baht found support after the gold price rose to its key resistance level.
He expects the Thai currency to swing sideways and not strengthen much because basic economic factors are not yet in positive territory. However, he said, things may improve now that the government has reopened the country.
The support level for the Thai currency will be at 33.10 – a level importers are waiting for so they can purchase dollars. Meanwhile, the baht’s resistance level will be from 33.40 – a level eyed by exporters so they can offload their dollars, he added.
Ajinomoto is a global manufacturer of high-quality food and amino acid-based products, which has been contributing to the food, health and nutrition industries through various applications of amino acid technologies.
Japanese multinational giant Ajinomoto Co Inc will be the official main sponsor of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) to be held in Vietnam in May 2022.
The company said it would support the regional multi-sport event under the “Asean Victory Project” through its six subsidiaries in Southeast Asian countries by mainly providing seasonings and beverages as well as the amino acid-based “amino VITAL” products to athletes competing in the games.
Ajinomoto is a global manufacturer of high-quality food and amino acid-based products, which has been contributing to the food, health and nutrition industries through various applications of amino acid technologies.
Since 2003, Ajinomoto has been working on the “Victory Project” to nourish top-level athletes in Japan and has been conducting nutritional support activities by utilising the power of amino acids, including providing products such as “amino VITAL” and “Winning Meals Kachimeshi” to athletes.
Since 2018, six Ajinomoto Group subsidiaries in the Asean region have implemented the “Asean Victory Project” through sports associations, athletes, and sports schools in their respective countries.
In Thailand, the project was initiated in 2018 when Ajinomoto Thailand started providing amino-based products to the national volleyball association. Following the tremendous success, the company has been expanding nutrition support to other sport associations, including the Badminton Association of Thailand in 2020.
Ajinomoto Group says it aims to become a “solution-providing group of companies for food and health issues” by unlocking the power of amino acids, resolving food and health issues associated with dietary habits and ageing, and contributing to greater wellness for people worldwide.
“Based on the corporate message ‘Eat Well, Live Well’, we have been scientifically exploring the potential of amino acids while creating new value through sustainable and innovative solutions for communities and society. This reflects the essence of our business motto called ‘The Ajinomoto Group Creating Shared Value (ASV)’,” the company said. ASV focuses on value creation in three aspects: creating a healthy society, maximising usage of food resources, and ensuring global sustainability.
WHA Group is pursuing a strategy to drive business towards smart technologies and digital transformation for sustainable growth over the next five years.
Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, chairman and group CEO of WHA Corporation, said the company had chalked up 28 per cent revenue growth in 2021 despite the challenging environment.
“Last year, WHA’s revenue and share of profits amounted to 12 billion baht, with total assets reaching 83 billion billion, and credit rating maintained at A-,” she said.
“Of the total revenue and share of profit in 2021, 48 per cent came from the logistics business, 26 per cent from the industrial estate business, 25 per cent from utilities and power business and 1 per cent from the digital business.”
She expected normalised total revenue and share of profits to hit 21 billion baht in 2026, 1.75 times higher than in 2021.
The company is expected to maintain high earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of over 40 per cent, and interest-bearing debt (IBD) to equity ratio at lower than 1.2 times, she added.
“Despite another year marked by a challenging environment, with the pandemic restricting travel possibilities for our customers and international investors, we were able to achieve remarkable growth while maintaining our strong financial position and financing capability,” she said.
“To further sharpen WHA’s competitive edge, we are implementing a digital transformation with a two-fold objective: Firstly, we aim to deliver better customer experience. Secondly, through digitalisation, we are fast forwarding to high levels of operational excellence.”
Outlook for 2022 and beyond
With digital transformation at the core of WHA’s businesses, Jareeporn said 33 digital projects were launched in 2021, spanning all areas of the company’s businesses. WHA aims to utilise digital technologies to further enhance the reliability and efficiency of its operations and differentiate its offering.
“In fact, WHA Smart Eco-Industrial Estates are already raising the bar in terms of digitalisation, with digital technologies functioning in virtually all activities, ranging from communications, mobility, security and safety, environment control, and water production and waste treatment,” she said.
“The next step of WHA’s Digital Transformation will consist of using technology to introduce new income streams from innovative products and services and use data as a source of competitive advantage. As part of its road map, WHA targets to be a tech company by 2024.”
Jareeporn said the strategy of WHA’s four core businesses are:
1. WHA Logistics will pursue its expansion in Thailand while seeking new opportunities in Vietnam.
WHA Logistics aims to further grow its geographical footprint and capture new demand in strategic locations in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) provinces (Chachoengsao, Chonburi, and Rayong), in addition to its established and strong foothold in the Bangna-Trad area.
WHA Logistics product portfolio will be enlarged from built-to-suit facilities and general warehouses to include smaller-scale facilities to cater to the needs of smaller enterprises and SMEs and capture this growing segment. Internationally, opportunities will be prioritised to capitalise on the robust demand and to leverage on existing WHA capabilities in Vietnam.
Existing and new strategic long-term partnerships will be developed with regional and global players, focusing on high-growth industries such as e-Commerce, healthcare, and consumer products.
To further enhance the competitiveness of its products and services, smart technologies and innovations based on AI, IoT, Big Data, automated systems and robotics will be favoured, while opportunities in Metaverse, quantum computing and green transportation will be actively explored.
WHA Logistics will pursue its expansion of WHA Office Solutions. Equipped with six prime office locations with full facilities and superior design in Bangkok and Samut Prakan provinces, WHA will target tenants ranging from early-stage startups to established corporations.
2. WHA Industrial Development (WHAID) will cement its leadership in Thailand, enlarge its product offering and widen its presence in Vietnam.
WHAID has more industrial estates in its pipeline over the next five years.
In 2022, the plan includes the expansion of WHA Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate 4 (+580 rai) with construction that started in the fourth quarter of last year, as well as the construction of the first phase of WHA Industrial Estate Rayong (1,100 rai), in a joint venture with IRPC, scheduled to start end-2022.
WHAID will pursue its efforts to enlarge its product offering to increase recurring revenue and reduce reliance on land sales. The supply of nitrogen gas by BIG WHA, a joint venture with Bangkok Industrial Gas, already operational at Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate (Rayong), will expand its product offering to include other gases, as well as its geographical coverage to other industrial estates.
WHAID will leverage on its experience developing TusPark WHA, an incubation and innovation centre for startups, which is already in operation near Chulalongkorn University, to move towards higher value estates or properties.
WHAID will also explore business opportunities in line with net zero and sustainability trends.
In Vietnam, WHAID will build on its initial success of the Nghe An project to broaden its presence on a national basis. Due to increasing customer demand, WHAID plans to accelerate the development of its next phases, including the construction of phase 2 (2,200 rai, or 352 hectares) scheduled to start in the first quarter of this year. When fully completed, including phases 1, 2 and subsequent expansions, WHA Industrial Zone – Nghe An will comprise a total of 11,550 rai (1,848 hectares).
Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in December 2020 with Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee, WHAID will start the development of the two new industrial zones. “WHA Smart Technology Industrial Zone – Thanh Hoa”, with its proximity to the province’s main city, is poised to capture demand from high-value technology investors, while “WHA Northern Industrial Zone – Thanh Hoa” strategically located near the existing Nghi Son petrochemical complex, will target intermediate and downstream industries.
Land relocation and construction are expected to commence in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
3. WHA Utilities and Power (WHAUP) will continue to grow its utilities business inside and outside the group’s industrial estates, both in Thailand and Vietnam. Innovative renewable energy solutions, in particular solar energy, will be developed and initiated.
For utilities, WHAUP will leverage its expertise to offer value-added water products such as wastewater reclamation and demineralised water to industrial customers both inside and outside WHA industrial estates, such as other industrial land developers, municipalities, and communities.
It also plans to grow vertically by exploring alternative raw water sources to enhance water reliability and reduce raw water purchase cost. It also operates a ‘Smart Utilities Services Platform and Innovative Solution’ for customers in WHA industrial estates.
In Vietnam, where it owns equity stakes in two water companies, WHAUP will continue to explore new projects as well as merger and acquisitions opportunities. This year, utilities sales and managed volume is expected to reach 128 million cubic meters in Thailand and 25 million in Vietnam.
For power, WHAUP will continue to develop renewable energy solutions and increase its capacity, from solar rooftop and waste-to-energy projects, with a cumulative target of signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) of 150MW by the end of 2022.
It will continue to introduce innovative technologies such as a peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading system and a Smart Microgrid in industrial estates. WHAUP’s 2022 total signed PPA is expected to reach 700 equity MW.
4. WHA Digital Platform will empower WHA Group’s digitisation by continuing to lay digital infrastructure and spearheading the implementation of digital technologies across all business hubs.
WHA Digital Platform will broaden its product range to cover telecommunication towers inside WHA’s industrial estates. This will include the construction of telecommunication towers and base stations as well as renting spaces on these towers to telecom operators to install necessary devices for receiving and broadcasting network frequencies including 3G, 4G and 5G. Data centres are being monetised.
WHA Digital has been set up as a new company to lead the group in digital transformation and implementation of digital innovations and technologies across business hubs. WHA Digital is looking at startups, especially homegrown companies, as key technology partners.
In line with this strategy, Jareeporn said the group planned to invest 50 billion baht over the next five years from 2022 to 2026.
She explained that the target investment budgets for both WHA Logistics and WHAID amount to 18 billion baht each. In addition, WHAUP will invest 10 billion baht. Finally, 4 billion baht has been budgeted for WHA Digital to invest in startups and new technologies and propel the group to become a tech company.
“We look forward to 2022 with confidence and optimism, as we expect the restrictions due to the pandemic to be lifted, while experiencing rapid economic recovery,” she said.
“For the next five years, we will continue the digital transformation across all our businesses, by utilising smart technologies and innovations to boost our operations further.
“Our digital readiness and ability to adopt new technologies, as manifested in our investments, will have a strong impact on our company’s ability to welcome investors, and therefore to transform the socio-economic status of the country, and drive the government’s Industry 4.0 policy,” she said.
For the first time in 15 years, the United States government has approved the import of fresh pomelo from Thailand, Department of Agriculture director-general Phichead Wiriyaphaha said on Wednesday.
“The department had in 2006 proposed to the US a plan to export several types of fresh fruit, but the US had allowed only seven types of fruit imports from Thailand,” he said.
“They are mangoes, mangosteen, rambutan, logan, lichee, pineapples and dragon fruit. Pomelo was recently added to the list, and it will be the first time in 15 years that fresh Thai pomelo will penetrate the US market,” Phichead said.
Eligible pomelo exporters must be registered with the department and have their produce undergo radiation treatment to eliminate agricultural pests, especially fruit flies, that may have contaminated the fruits, he added.
The other criteria include the plantation must be certified under the GAP (good agricultural practices) standard, while packaging facilities must be certified under the GMP (good manufacturing practices) standard.
Thailand has more than 30 pomelo breeds, but the ones that have caught American consumers’ attention are the Siamese Ruby, due to its pinkish sweet flesh and low seed count; the White Cucumber, that has a thin skin and plump, white flesh; and Thongdee, that also has pink flesh and lots of juice. These three signature breeds are grown in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chai Nat and Nakhon Pathum, respectively.
Thailand exports pomelos to 29 countries, with the biggest markets being China and Malaysia. In 2021 the kingdom exported 29,782 tonnes of pomelo worth approximately 903 million baht.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index is expected to fluctuate between 1,675 and 1,680 points on Thursday, Krungsri Securities predicted.
It said the index gained positive sentiment from rising oil prices after Opec+ agreed to raise output by 400,000 barrels per day, and mass buy-ups of company shares that were expected to grow based on business turnover last year.
“However, fund-flow volatility amid uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve’s signal that it would raise the interest rate to tackle inflation, and mass share sell-offs in response to signs of overbought stocks would pressure the index,” Krungsri Securities said.
It advised investors to follow the European Central Bank and Bank of England meetings to see whether they will raise their respective interest rates to tackle rising inflation.
Krungsri Securities also recommended purchase of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy:
• BBL, KBank, KTB and BLA, which benefit from news of a US interest rate hike.
• PTTEP, Top, PTTGC, IVL and SPRC, which will gain from the rising price of oil and the gross refining margin.
• AOT, Mint, Centel, ERW and AAV, which will benefit from the resumption of the Test & Go scheme and the fourth phase of the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) travel subsidy.
The SET Index closed at 1,667.75 on Wednesday, up 6.00 points or 0.36 per cent. Transactions totalled 61.32 billion baht with an index high of 1,669.50 and a low of 1,658.58.
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