Koh is president and chief executive of the IT and mobile communication division at Samsung Electronics. He also serves as an executive director on Samsung Electronics’ board and oversees the company’s Global Marketing Centre.

He began work for Samsung Electronics in 1983 and has served in a variety of executive positions within the South Korean technology giant, playing a critical role in the launch of a diverse range of mobile devices and services.

He says that the firm has created a roadmap for the development of smartphones bristling with innovations, new technologies, and all drawing on feedback from customers.

 “I have always believed that the answers for our business should come from our customers, so listening to consumers from each of the countries we operate in is very important,” Koh says.

“I have two sons, aged 28 and 21. Chatting with them always makes me think how we can better our approach to young people. I think Samsung’s image can be ideally positioned towards those ranging from the late teens to the mid-30s, but should also embrace the relatively older generations.”

He is optimistic on the outlook for the global smartphone industry and the overall IT industry. This year marks the early steps towards the era of 5G and, in the next five years, 5G technology and artificial intelligence (AI) will be key technologies that transform the industry

“This year is an important one for change – with 5G, AI and new phones such as the Fold,” he says, adding that the company will announce the introduction of 5G in the US in May and Europe in June. Closer to home, the service will be available in Vietnam next year.

He says that with the innovations that will unfold over the next three years AI technology will be in full swing.

“5G and AI will transform the picture everywhere – with the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), machine-to-machine communications, and autonomous vehicles,” Koh says.

“People are interested in how 5G will change their lives, such as by enabling gamer’s capabilities to be much improved, with much faster streaming services.”

Samsung has developed an ecosystem of 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including chipsets, 5G networks, devices, hardware, software and services to support the demands of the market.

“The smartphone market is saturated – but Samsung would like to focus on the next 10 years with our own business roadmap, rather than considering mergers and acquisitions. The roadmap includes everything – design, hardware, device, software, and service,” Koh says.

“I meet members of the media in my job not with the aim of selling or promoting the products, but to use that time to share our long-term vision with you.

“I receive more than 10 emails per day from general consumers, too – mostly about product feedback. This is indeed valuable feedback to me. Continuous communications with the market, consumers and the media are crucial to me.”

Koh says that 5G will facilitate machine-to-machine leaning innovations. The biggest change will come from the user experience.

He says that before Samsung announces a new product, the firm works with more than 1,200 business partners under a collaboration and win-win business model. It also listens to the voices of millennials, as such opinions are reflected in the products and create trust among its employees.

“As a CEO, I aim to build trust and confidence in our employees as well, along with an immersive experience for consumers and a device-brand-free experience,” he says. “When 5G helps to enable faster connections, security will be even more important.

“Thailand is one of the most important markets in Southeast Asia, with competitive brands getting more popular,” he says. “In two to three years, millennials will make up 50 per cent of the demographics in Thailand. Thais, especially the younger generations, like to embrace new things and love social media. We’ve worked on launching a new product to wow Thai millennials.”

He says that Samsung aims to be the company that truly understands the future of 5G and AI and will lead the market over the next 10 years.

“The changes in the next 10 years will become more evident in the next three to four years,” he says. “Samsung is investing a lot in R&D, by running seven AI labs across the globe. And Samsung is not stopping at smartphones. We will keep developing the capabilities of 5G and AI to create new experiences for our customers.

“Our key strategy is to listen to consumer feedback from around the world and reflect this in our business strategy.

“Samsung has end-to-end technology for 5G. The firm has a strategy to provide the new experiences that we plan for our consumers.”

As for the competition, Koh says the Chinese brands – or C brands, as he calls them – have improved their offerings.

“The C brands have improved and are doing well. It’s not true that we don’t consider them as competitors,” he says. “But we first have to focus on the next five to 10 years under our roadmap. If need be, we’ll learn from others.

“As I say, we put consumer feedback as the top priority. Our efforts will be understood by consumers in the end. For those who have switched brands, I believe our continuous efforts will make them return to Galaxy. I will do my best.”

As part of this learning quest, Koh says he spends about 150 days of the year away from South Korea for work. He credits his wife for her understanding of the demands of his business schedule. He adds that when time comes for retirement, he will look forward to spending more time with her. And as for future trips to Thailand, he says he savours the opportunities to dine on tom yam gung.

The bank said in a press release on Friday that the aim of the MOU is to support trade and investment as well as infrastructure development under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while enhancing economic development of Thailand and the People’s Republic of China.

The ceremony was held at Bank of China’s Head Office in Beijing, China.

Photo shows Pisit Serewiwattana, standing left, president of EXIM Thailand, Piriya Khemphon, standing center, Ambassador of Thailand to the People’s Republic of China, and Sun Yu, standing right, executive vice president of Bank of China.

The company said GrabFood became the market leader in food delivery in October 2018, only 8 months after its official launch in February 2018.

According to market research done by Kantar in February 2019, GrabFood is Thai consumers’ No.1 online food delivery platform. As much as 44 per cent of consumers voted GrabFood as the most often used brand in Thailand, saying it was the online food delivery platform they used the most often.

Off the back of a strong year of growth in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, GrabFood will expand to at least six more cities across Thailand in 2019 and bring the convenience of food delivery to even more Thai consumers. Grab’s partnership with Central Group, allows GrabFood to quickly expand its restaurant network in the targeted cities.

Tarin Thaniyavarn, Country Head of Grab Thailand, said: “In April, we achieved 1 million orders in 3 weeks. GrabFood has been growing exponentially, enabling us to, in less than one year, overtake competitors who have been in Thailand for years.

“This is only possible with the strong support of our delivery-partners and merchant-partners. We will work even harder to provide better income opportunities for delivery-partners, and to help merchant-partners grow their businesses.”

The savings lottery will offer Bt15 million for the first prize, which will be announced six times within three years, according to the bank’s release.

The bank will open to sales on May 17 at its branches nationwide or customers can book through its A-Mobile.

Pisit said he was optimistic about the economic outlook for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam – known as the CLMV countries – and on Thailand’s export and investment opportunities in these countries. He said yesterday that Thailand’s exports to the CLMV grouping are expected to rise by double digits this year, building on the gains from the 16.6 per cent growth posted for last year.

Goods with robust growth prospects include capital goods such as mechanical devices and parts; agricultural machines; raw materials, such as chemicals, plastic resins and construction materials; and consumer goods like beverages, fresh fruit, instant foods, garments, cosmetics and accessories, he said.

Exim Thailand has recently set up representative offices in Yangon, Vientiane and Phnom Penh, aiming to help its customers capture more opportunities in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

“We aim to support SMEs to export and invest more in these markets. But we acknowledge that we have to shoulder some of the funding costs,” he told a press conference.

The bank currently makes loans to investors mainly focused on the energy, hospitality and manufacturing sectors. Pisit concedes that loan growth to support investment in these countries has not risen as much as he had expected.

The major obstacles facing entrepreneurs are a shortage of capital and a lack of knowledge and skills related to export rules and procedures, international trade risk management, and prospective trade counterparts, he said.

To support them, Exim Thailand offers an incubation course for entrepreneurs who want to expand their businesses into these markets. Pisit also announced the launch of new financial facilities. These include EXIM CLMV SMEs Credit, which is a pre- and post-shipment revolving credit for SMEs exporting to the CLMV countries with a credit limit of up to Bt2 million per exporter at an interest rate of prime rate minus 1.75 per cent a year, or 4.5 per cent based on the current prime rate of 6.25 per cent. The bank also offers an interest discount of 0.5 per cent to export credit insurance clients.

Export credit insurance clients will be provided with a revolving credit facility to serve working capital needs and insurance coverage to hedge the risk from foreign buyers’ non-payment in conjunction with foreign exchange forward contracts worth up to the credit amount that has been approved, he said.

This credit facility can be secured by a letter of guarantee from Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) and a personal guarantee. Credit approvals are being granted until the end of the year.

The bank has also developed an SMEs easy export insurance product to serve entrepreneurs with a plan to export in a small volumes per shipment. This insurance facility covers more than 140 countries, including CLMV. The insured amount is up to Bt2 million, with maximum coverage of 85 per cent of the declared loss amount.

Exim Thailand yesterday announced its operational results for the first three months of 2019, when the bank’s total outstanding loans jumped 18.57 per cent year on year to Bt106.3 billion. Of the total, the outstanding SMEs loans were Bt40.9 billion, marking growth of 12.42 per cent year on year.

Its non-performing loans ratio was 4.26 per cent. Some clients could not catch up with fast-changing technology and competition, resulting in a rise in bad debts, Pisit said. The bank’s net profit in the first quarter was Bt334 million, contributing to a strong balance sheet, he added.

Currently, Thai Vietjet said it is the only airline operating direct flight between Suvarnabhumi and Taichung with five flights per week every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Additional frequencies are to be added every Tuesday and Thursday to fulfil daily services starting from June 20.

Dtac urges its customers to sign a blessing e-book to pay respect and show loyalty to His Majesty the King at www.dtac.co.th/KingRamaX. The book will be later sent to the Bureau of the Royal Household.

Dtac staff will wear yellow shirts on Mondays until July as part of celebrations of the royal coronation.

In addition, the company has supported soldiers, the police and volunteers at the media centre by donating 10,000 bottles of water.

According to government policy, tax measures to promote domestic spending and the electronic tax system (e-tax) come with products like stationery, books and IT gadget for the new semester.

This campaign offers big promotions to parents, pupils and teachers. There is a special price and a double chance to win a special gift by customer choice, worth over Bt1.1 million and 154 other prizes until May 31.

The company donated 41 used gym bikes from Virgin Active’s Empire Tower branch to be used at Lumpini Youth Centre’s fitness room with an aim to encourage more Thais to get fit. Wisarn Gong-Ngern, front row, fourth from right, the director of recreation and learning, was on hand to accept the donated bikes together with the centre’s staff.