This new, non-alcoholic malt beverage is made from natural ingredients, brewed with a unique recipe providing a distinct and balanced taste that contains no added sugar and just 69 calories per serving (330 ml), and is aimed at consumers with legal drinking age (LDA) and above, who enjoy the taste of beer, but not necessarily the effects of alcohol at certain moments in the day.

Heineken 0.0 gives consumers a new choice and contributes to the growing cultural trend focused on moderate alcohol consumption.

Maud Meijboom – van Wel, Heineken brand development and communication director, Heineken Asia Pacific, said that Heineken 0.0 is a non-alcoholic malt beverage, brewed using a unique recipe that offers a distinct and balanced taste, which consumers can enjoy at anytime.

“It was brewed to provide our consumers with a new option for all their drinking occasions, addresses the growing cultural trend of living a balanced lifestyle, and empowers people with legal drinking age and above, who can’t drink alcohol to be involved in every non-beer moment. In addition to positioning the Heineken brand as a pioneer in the industry, we continue to introduce new and innovative products to meet the needs of consumers and to complement our existing offerings, without compromising on quality,” said Meijboom – van Wel.

“According to Heineken’s global consumer research, we found out that beer drinkers are more and more concerned about moderate alcohol consumption for example staying in control is No. 1 reason to moderate drinking on a night out for six in 10 Millenials,” she added.

Meijboom – van Wel said that Heineken 0.0 is aimed at both men and women aged 20 and older (Legal Drinking Age and above) who enjoy the taste of beer, but not necessarily the effects of alcohol at certain moments during the day, as well as health-conscious beer lovers who meticulously and carefully choose what they consume. Heineken doesn’t have any intention of using this product for advertising purposes or breaching any rules or laws in the country.

“We will capitalise on Heineken’s core competencies of brewing with natural ingredients and developing cool premium propositions that delight our consumers,” she said.

Heineken 0.0 was first launched in 2017 in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, followed by the UK and France. It is now available in 38 markets around the world, including Europe, North America, and Australia. In Asia, Singapore was the first country to launch the product in November 2018, followed by Thailand, with a gradual rollout planned in other markets depending on requirements.

Heineken 0.0 will be available for purchase in mid-March at modern trade and convenience stores nationwide.

Heineken is also looking at expanding sales opportunities through e-commerce and special outlets such as co-working spaces, cafes and key coffee chains.

Located in the Pathum Wan District, the office will provide investment and wealth management services to the bank’s clients across Thailand, complementing LGT’s existing private banking operations in Hong Kong and Singapore.

From left: Ekkapob Makeguljai, CEO of LGT Securities (Thailand) Limited, Karn Karuhadej, Managing Director and Member of the Executive Board Asia LGT Bank, H.S.H. Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein, LGT’s Chairman, H.S.H. Prince Hubertus Alois von und zu Liechtenstein, Board Member as well as Dr. Henri Leimer, LGT Private Banking Asia’s CEO, attended the opening ceremony.

LGT has been fully controlled by the Liechtenstein Princely Family for over 80 years. As of June 30, 2018, LGT managed assets of US$207.5 billion for wealthy private individuals and institutional clients. LGT employs over 3000 people. Working out of more than 20 locations in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East.

EXIM THAILAND 

Collateral-free loan for export startups

Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) has launched a new credit facility “EXIM Happier Credit”, a pre- and post-shipment revolving credit for export start-ups who are new to the bank’s services. The new facility offers a credit line of up to Bt700,000 each and a first-year interest rate/discount rate of 5.50 per cent per annum in conjunction with a forward contract worth up to the approved credit amount.

No asset-based collateral is required with the only rquirementbeing a personal guarantee. As an additional benefit, participants of EXAC programmes or other EXIM Thailand’s promotional activities will be eligible for further discount of 0.50 per cent on the first-year interest rate.

The new credit facility is expected to assist small enterprises in starting or growing their exports without worrying about liquidity or foreign exchange |risks.

POST ACQUISITION 

DKSH takes top spot in scientific instrumentation 

DKSH has signed an agreement to acquire technology distributor SPC. With this move, DKSH’s Business Unit Technology becomes the largest player for scientific instrumentation in Thailand.

SPC was established in 1976 in Thailand and focuses on sales, marketing, application engineering and after-sales services for scientific instrumentation.

Aran, CEO of SPC, commented: “For more than 40 years, SPC has been distributing products of many international clients in Thailand. Especially due to DKSH’s excellent reputation, we are very pleased to become part of DKSH and jointly offer an even broader range of services that drive our clients’ growth.”

Closing of the transaction is expected in the next months and is subject to certain conditions.

Managing Director Siriporn Sinacharoen said three main strategies will be employed to drive growth: having the right products to match investors’ demand, joining force with Krungsri Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) for new customers, and giving good investment experience to its customers.

The company currently has a customer base of about 360,000.

With its plan for increasing online services, the company will launch online account opening and mobile application services in the first half of this year as well as Robo Advisor for mutual fund clients.

This month, the company will make initial public offerings of fund units of KFSUPER and KFSUPERRMF, with no more than 75 per cent of the proceeds to be invested in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure funds.

Siriporn said the mutual fund industry is expected to expand by 3 per cent this year , a higher growth rate than 2018. But, it would contract by 2 per cent if Thailand Future Fund is excluded, she added.

The company retains its positive view on the Thai stock market, targeting the Thai Stock Exchange of Thailand Index at 1,720 points this year or move in a range of 1,550-1,830 points with a market price to earnings ratio of 15.5 times and market earnings per share of Bt110.7.

This year’s market earnings is estimated to grow in a range of 8-10 per cent.

Despite of its short-term volatility, the Thai bourse remains attractive in the medium to long term, given its P/E ratio of 15 times compared to Indonesia’s 15.5 times and the Philippines’s 16.3 times.

This year, the company expects fixed income, particularly short-term ones, to reap higher return from the expected gradual rises in short-term interest rates, after Bank of Thailand’s policy rate increase last December.

Foreign capital movement is expected to improve if pressure from the Federal Reserve and the US-China trade war eases up.

However, the market will see continued net sales of Thai stocks by foreign investors this year but the amount is not expected to exceed the Bt300 billion worth of stocks sold last year .

Investors may diversify risks in their portfolios with 60 per cent in stocks (35 per cent in Thailand and 15 per cent overseas), 35 per cent in fixed income (25 per cent in the country and 10 per cent abroad ) and 5 per cent in alternative investment, such as gold, with an estimated average return of 7 per cent per year.

Soe Thein, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Communica-tions and Information Technology who led the Myanmar delegation to MWC19, said all the operators gave impressive demonstrations at the event when he visited the booths of Telenor, Ooredoo and Mytel.

“In Myanmar, the network security system plays a very important role. The devices manufactured by Viettel [which takes the majority of Mytel’s shares] made the biggest impression on me,” he said.

He said the Ministry’s preparations are well underway for Myanmar’s future embrace of 5G, and will continue to support all operators.

“Currently, we are in the process of developing the environment and the legal basis to get ready for the upcoming 5G technology wave,” he said.

The official said the deployment of 5G networks by Myanmar telcos would emerge over the next few years, as all operators vied for the leadership position in 5G technology.

Vikram Sinha, board member of Ooredoo Myanmar, made a presentation on the telco’s commitment to support the nation’s digital transformation journey. “We showcased what we have done at Ooredoo Myanmar, to put Myanmar in the global digital arena on par with developed countries,” he said.

“Our team is geared up to provide more innovative digitalised services and products, combined with the best customer experiences to continue leading as a digital enabler.”

Serving more than 10 million SIM subscribers, Ooredoo Myanmar now covers 92 per cent of Myanmar’s population with its network. Driven by digitalisation and customer centricity, the firm launched many digital-based products and services last year and achieved many milestones in its digital journey, said Sinha.

“Everyone thinks of Myanmar as a Third World country, and so now is the best time for us to showcase Myanmar on track for transformation to a digital country,” he said.

Sharad Mehrotra, chief executive of Telenor Myanmar, took part in the congress along with its chief technology officer, Jai Prakash.

“We understand that MWC is an important arena to engage and collaborate with partners, businesses and authorities from markets in which Telenor operates, as well as those outside our footprint,” said Mehrotra.

He said the Myanmar telco also joined several representatives from Norway’s Telenor Group parent and its business units around the world to participate in the event. Serving more than 18 million customers with 8,300 sites and over 100,000 points-of-sale nationwide, Telenor Myanmar recently introduced a low-cost data-roaming package for its users visiting Thailand.

Zaw Min Oo, chief external relations officer at Mytel, said the operator launched the latest solutions and products in four core areas at MWC19 – smart telco, smart cities, network security and smart marine communication.

Having achieved more than 5 million subscribers after only seven months in operation, Mytel plans to double that to 10 million subscribers in Myanmar by year-end, he said.