“TMB services business clients with differences. Fintech companies’ concepts are applied in creating supply chain financing solutions whereby an ecosystem is built and involves all relevant parties in the supply chain. Our idea is that all parties win. Our goal is not to generate revenue or grow fee income, but to ensure sustainable growth of our clients’ supply chain,” Rachakorn Chayapirad, head of domestic transaction banking at TMB, said.

Rachakorn’s remarks reflect the marketing strategy of “TMB Supply Chain Financing”. And the strategy is now being applied to CJ Supermarket, a Thai convenience store chain.

Supply Chain Financing and E–Supply Chain have been trending following increasing digitalisation in Thailand’s financial industry. The trend kicked off with the National e-Payment that waives transfer fees and brings down the transfer, receiving and sending cost to zero. Digital technology also leads to the migration of paper-based operations to an electronic platform. Both were key factors that contributed to a jump in the supply chain industry’s growth in the past 1-2 years.

TMB said it sees small and medium-sized firms in particular as needing a sizeable amount of working capital but suffering from limited access. As their information appears on the digital platform, TMB witnesses the flow of business between buyers and sellers in the supply chain. The information can be analysed and a loan can be approved accordingly. Credit extension is quick while risk analysis quality improves, leading to quick loan approvals and higher credit amounts compared to unsecured lending, the bank said.

Rachakorn explained that TMB and CJ Supermarket’s partnership is aimed at moving its supply-chain management to the next level and enhance the efficiency. It is set to address the pain point that orders placed with small and large suppliers were based on papers. Though CJ Supermarket has put in place an electronic system, several suppliers prefer the paper-based system which were time-consuming and increased cost. Some documents are missing or contain errors.

“Our question is what platform will entirely turn the paper-based system to an electronic system, a system that allows CJ Supermarket to place orders electronically and suppliers can produce products according to the electronic orders. And the platform must also be able to immediately transform the orders to electronic purchase orders and such information should be accessible by CJ Supermarket. All transactions on the electric platform can reduce the operating cost and enhance management efficiency. Plus, the information can be stored for future analysis.”

Veeratham Setthasit, deputy managing director of CJ Express Group Co Ltd, said: “CJ Supermarket is a large-scale retail chain. We’re the first Thai retailer with annual sales exceeding Bt10 billion, being in an industry dominated by foreign retailers. Our key strategy lies in inventory management. We’re confident that our supply chain is as efficient as that of foreign retailers. Our supply chain now involves more than 600 suppliers, including over 200 large-scale suppliers.

“Our daily ordeal is to handle orders from over 300 outlets, involving over 10,000 SKUs [stock-keeping units]. That means over 3 million sets of data. TMB’s EDI system will facilitate the sending of purchase orders to suppliers and suppliers will receive orders that contain no error. This ecosystem will benefit our operations and our suppliers.”

Thailand sent representatives to the IAF/ILAC joint annual meeting recently held in Singapore, including participating in the working-group meeting on the ISO/IEC17024 standards for certification of professionals.

In the meeting, 192 participants from over 100 countries discussed best practices regarding professional certifications for the purpose of gaining global recognition of Thai certified professionals. Discussed were procedures to identify fairness, validity, reliability and general performance of competency assessment.

Thailand demonstrated strong determination to create a standard performance assessment consistent with the ISO/IEC17024 requirements.

‘Central Village’ luxury outlet to open in 2019

Central Pattana yesterday confirmed it will open “Central Village” next August, billing it as “the first international luxury outlet in Thailand”.

Central Pattana Plc (CPN), said it had closed deals with half of the project’s 235 boutique stores and would partner with Central Group, including leading fashion-brand importer the Central Marketing Group.

Global brands Polo Ralph Lauren, Kenzo and Vivienne Westwood have agreed to join forces with Central Village, as has CK Jeans for its first and only outlet in Thailand along with Adidas.

The outlet will be located on the main road to Suvarnabhumi Airport. CPN aims to attract both Thai and foreign tourists to stop by Central Village on their way in or out of the airport.

Responding to the global trend of establishing an airport city, CPN said it would contribute to making Thailand a real shopping haven for both Thai and foreign visitors from around the world.

The outlet would open next August under the concept “Bangkok Outlet Experience”, said the news release.

Shell pushes a ‘green’ solution

Oil giant Shell Thailand has announced an aspiration to reduce environmental impacts.

The Shell Company of Thailand will focus on supporting a future-oriented energy transition through innovation, partnerships and developing opportunities for people.

The company is doing its bit by supporting the efficient use of energy, using waste management as a source for energy renewal, and reforestation, the company said in a Monday press release.

The actions reflect the company’s sustainability aspiration, in addition to aligning with the Thailand 4.0 policy aiming to create growth and improve the quality of life while also being friendly towards the environment, said the release.

Said Asada Harinsuit, chairman of the Shell Company of Thailand Ltd, “As one of Thailand’s leaders in oil and the energy industry, our main goal is to deliver more and cleaner energy for customers. With an emphasis on sustainability and environmental care, Shell’s business strategy is to support the use of energy to enhance business growth while also caring for society.

“In order to achieve a better quality of life, we take different measures to reduce environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions while also creating sustainable harmony between people and environment.

“Our business strategy is in line with the National Agenda for development and based on the fundamentals for improving life quality, while remaining environmentally friendly to reduce the impact of climate change by 40 per cent and increase green space by 35 per cent.”

The State of the Environment Report by the Thailand Environmental Institute indicated that out of 6.187 tonnes of toxic waste, only 35 per cent was properly processed. This is due to the lack of coverage for waste sorting, waste collection and waste delivery, said the release.

UOB and JustCo offer co-working space deals

United Overseas Bank (Thailand) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JustCo to offer preferential rental rates at any of JustCo’s three co-working spaces in Thailand.

JustCo is one of Asia’s leading co-working space providers with 22 co-working centres in Bangkok, Jakarta, Shanghai and Singapore.

Under the MoU, the bank’s startup and SME customers in Thailand, will enjoy 20 per cent off the rental rates at any of JustCo’s co-working spaces in several buildings located in Bangkok’s Central Business District – AIA Sathorn Tower, Capital Tower-All Seasons Place and Samyan Mitrtown.

James Rama Phataminviphas, country head of channels and digitalisation, UOB (Thai), said, “For startups and SMEs looking to establish themselves in Thailand, co-working spaces offer an efficient alternative to setting up a physical office from scratch.

“For example, a recent study showed that many young Asean FinTech firms think that co-working spaces are beneficial to them as they may not have sufficient resources to set up their own office space.

“Our collaboration with JustCo will enable us to offer UOB’s many startup and SME customers yet another convenient and cost-effective option to set up and to manage their operations in Thailand.”

Samitivej offers digital experience to patients

In response to the needs of patients, Samitivej is expanding its innovative mobile health services.

Samitivej Mobile Health offers Samitivej Plus app, Line@Samitivej and Samitivej PACE to improve the patient experience. Mobile Health’s new Ward Tracking app has now been made available so patients can prepare for medical procedures and to provide daily treatment schedules with on-demand features. Samitivej has deployed Apple technology to create this digital experience in caring for its patients.

People are paying more attention to their wellbeing in this rapidly changing world, said Dr Chairat Panthuraamphorn, CEO of Samitivej and BNH hospitals. Focusing on the importance of such changes, Samitivej is well prepared to meet the higher expectations of patients.

In line with the Healthcare 4.0 era, Samitivej is providing Thailand’s first Mobile Health service in Thailand through an easy-to-use smartphone application, enabling patients to connect with hospital services before, during and after treatment upon their return home. Underlining its determination to enhance the patient experience, Samitivej for the past three years has worked to develop innovative digital technology based on its insights into their patients and patient families.

With Samitivej Mobile Health, the hospital eliminates common pain points, such as waiting time to see a doctor or making a payment, their release said yesterday.

He also revealed that the national carrier wants to buy additional aircraft in the next five years, with the long-term aim to bring the airline’s fleet numbers up from 100 to 125.

“It is necessary to increase the number of aircraft if we want to keep up with the growing market,” he told reporters yesterday, adding that the commercial aviation market was growing by 3 per cent yearly.

“If we fail to boost our fleet, we stand to lose 10 per cent of the market share in the next three to five years,” he cautioned.

“We need to push for progress in terms of a larger fleet as soon as possible. The Cabinet will need to approve our proposal swiftly if Thai Airways is to keep up with the high competition.”

The proposal to acquire new aircraft, however, will not necessarily boost the airline’s fleet, he said, because old craft will need to be replaced. “Even after the Cabinet’s approval, it will be at least two more years before the new aircraft will be put in use, as we will need to proceed in line with the regulatory and purchasing process,” he said.

However, Sumeth did not reveal any details of the airline’s ongoing business recovery plans.

In this year’s third quarter, Thai Airways made a net loss of Bt4.082 billion, higher than the Bt2.107 billion net loss last year, as per figures revealed by the Stock Exchange of Thailan.

The airline’s revenue for the third quarter this year stands at Bt149.24 billion, compared to Bt190.53 billion in 2017.

Thai Airways also signed a memorandum of understanding with PTT Oil and Retail yesterday in a move to boost business, such as selling Thai Catering products via Amazon Cafe’s 70 branches across the nation by the end of next year.

“We started making Thai Catering products available in five Amazon Cafes since May and aim to expand this number to 12 outlets by the end of this year, and start selling nationwide by 2019,” Sumeth said.

The investment, for the fiscal year June 2018 to May 2019, aims to focus on technology implementation in the poultry supply chain, provide additional funds for research and development in the aquaculture industry and expand the cooked poultry facility in Nakhon Ratchasima province. The funds were also earmarked to upgrade and refurbish its aqua feed production plant in Phetchaburi province.

MacLennan explained that the company sees significant business growth in Thailand, adding that the poultry business makes up nearly 80 per cent of Cargill’s operations in Thailand. The investment is also part of the company’s global innovation strategy to leverage technology, in order to meet the needs of its partners and customers.

Cargill owns and operates five animal and aqua-feed mills in the provinces of Chachoeangsao, Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Ratchasima and Phitsanulok. The company also has poultry processing operations in Saraburi and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces.

Cargill has been operating in Thailand since 1968, and has invested over $1.15 billion over the years. It currently has 14 facilities across the nation and employs more than 17,000 people.

Its operations in Thailand are comprised of origination, sourcing, processing, handling, distribution and marketing of a wide range of products, including agricultural commodities, animal feed, cooked poultry, food, as well as ingredients for food and beverages.

Nakul Sharma, chief executive officer and co-founder of UK-based Hostmaker, on Monday said: “Thailand has so much potential for middle- to long-term lettings. While we are still very new to the market, having local management who has international experience will help us quickly learn about the market and better understand Thai landlords.

“As a Thai, Paruethai has a depth of understanding of market pain points such as the language barrier between landlords and guests and [landlords’] lack of managing skills, and the experience to deliver the five-star home. She then helps them out via our world-class, cost-effective solution.”

Paruethai has more than 10 years of working experience in the property and service industry. Her career started early while she received a scholarship to study for her bachelor’s degree specialising in International Relations in New Zealand.

Paruethai landed her first real-estate job at the age of 19 at RedEx Property as a residential and commercial property manager for four years.

Recently, Paruethai was a property portfolio manager at Blackstone Group (NZ) in Auckland, where she was in charge of managing a wide range of residential and commercial properties for local and offshore investors.

She also set up a new business unit for the group, providing property services.

In her new role at Hostmaker Thailand, Paruethai will be responsible for managing local market operations, business development, strategies and planning, and procedure implementation.

Paruethai believes in taking the Thai real-estate industry forward, especially in the property-tech scene, Sharma said.

Her goal is to help Thai property owners maximise their investments and provide excellence of service for everyone, he added.

Reporting to Ken Potrock, president of Disney Consumer Products Commercialisation, Samat takes on responsibility for the commercialisation of Disney franchises across merchandise, publishing and licensed games throughout India, Southeast Asia, Greater China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

He rejoined The Walt Disney Company in India in November 2016 and went on to integrate the Southeast Asia and India businesses to form The Walt Disney Company’s South Asia regional hub in September 2017.

Samat previously led The Walt Disney Company’s India operations from 2008 to 2012.

“The Asia-Pacific region continues to provide immense opportunity for Disney products and experiences,” said Potrock. “I am confident that Mahesh’s proven leadership and steadfast focus on innovation and entrepreneurship will deliver dynamic growth across our brands and product categories.”

“Disney products and experiences bring our stories and characters closer to fans every day. I am pleased to have the opportunity to lead this exceptional team to delight kids and families across these high-growth Asian markets,” said Samat.

With more than 25 years of experience in fast-moving consumer goods, media and healthcare across India, Asia-Pacific and Europe, Samat previously worked with Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis and Boots India.

Demo flights of the Russian aircraft were conducted on Monday at the U-Tapao airfield in Rayong province.

In the course of the presentation, Rostec’s specialists told Thai operators about the key advantages of its Mi-171A2 and Ansat helicopters, and about their after-sales service system.

“The holding company is proactively strengthening business relations with commercial and public-sector customers from Thailand. By the end of the year, we are going to make the first supply of Ka-32А11VC helicopters to this country.

“Potential operators are also interested in Ansat and Mi-8/17-type helicopters in various modifications. Therefore, this demonstration of our aircraft is especially relevant here,” said Andrey Boginsky, chief executive officer of Russian Helicopters.

Russian helicopters are highly praised by public-sector and commercial customers in Southeast Asia, with the medium-sized, multipurpose Mi-17V-5 already successfully operated in Thailand, he said.

In addition, the holding company is working to establish a maintenance centre in the Kingdom.

“In February 2018, we signed the memorandum of intent with Datagate. Assistance in the organisation of a centre for maintenance of Russian-built helicopters in Thailand is among the cooperation areas listed in that document. It is expected that this centre will provide any types of routine maintenance and repair, troubleshooting and component replacement,” the CEO added.