The company said Inet Dell Could will offer not only infrastructure as a service but platform as a service as well as Big Data analytics as a service. This will encourage businesses to transform to the digital realm with greater insights into data for decision-making. Both companies invested on their own to build the capability to offer the service and they both also do the marketing.

Morragot Kulatumyotin, managing director of Inet, said that the mission of the collaboration is to offer cloud services in Thailand to help Thai businesses to carry out their digital transformation successfully.

“We offer world-class technology standards by Thai engineers,” said Morragot. “We are building the use cases of platform as a service and Big Data analytics as a service. There are many businesses that need know-how to apply Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoTs) to their business context through the use of a cloud platform.”

She said that Inet Dell Cloud is expected to have a growth rate of 30 to 40 per cent per year, matching that of the growth rate for the cloud service industry in Thailand.

“Cloud is a part of the digital transformation journey,” said Morragot.

30% less investment

“Some newly established companies might to cloud first, while some businesses expand or move to the cloud in order to empower their business capability with efficient investment costs. Compared to existing technology platforms, a cloud platform offers a 30 per cent in reduction in the total cost of investment.”

One of the highlights of Inet Dell Cloud is the multi-cloud service.

Anothai Wettayakorn, vice president of Dell EMC Indo-China, said that according to IDC, by 2020 over 90 per cent of enterprises around the world will use multi-cloud service platforms.

And, according to the Dell Technologies Digital Transformation Index (DT Index), around 63 per cent of Thai businesses are interested in investing in multi-cloud environments within the next three years in order to power their business transformation.

A multi-cloud approach offers optimised benefits to businesses, but it is challenging for large data centres as well.

“Our collaboration aims to help customers adopt and deploy the cloud platform of their choice built on Dell EMC’s cloud infrastructure solutions. Together with Inet’s expertise and local experience, this will enable Inet Dell Cloud to support businesses in Thailand as they transform their approach to the cloud and optimise their cloud investments,” said Anothai.

He said that multi-cloud is Dell’s worldwide strategy since cloud is the best operating model to provide IT services.

To execute this strategy, Dell needs a strong local partner, like Inet, to deliver the services to primary businesses in Thailand and in the Indochina sub-region as well.

Cloud service provision is a global strategy of Dell in Indochina and Inet is its first partner.

“We want to make Thailand to become the hub of data analytics in Indochina,” said Anothai.

IDC forecast that by 2021, revenue for Big Data and business analytics solutions in Asia Pacific (excluded Japan) is expected to reach US$22.2 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.4 per cent from 2016 to 2021. IDC predicts that Thailand, with a CAGR of 18.2 per cent, will be among the top three countries to experience the fastest growth in Big Data and business analytics solutions spending over the same period.

Inet Dell Cloud services will be delivered from three major Inet data centres – two in Bangkok and one in Saraburi.

The celebrated idol girl group is currently the hottest pop phenomenon in Thailand, and has helped re-ignite enthusiasm and passion for the local music scene.

BNK48 will represent Grab across a series of marketing initiatives, including social media and brand awareness events showcasing how Grab makes everyday better as Thailand’s Everyday App, said a press release yesterday.

Under the partnership, |Grab will roll out an extensive out-of-home and digital campaign through various media channels, including online advertisements and billboards featuring BNK48.

The group will highlight the versatility of Grab’s services for everyday use.

Grab users can also look forward to special daily deals with promo codes tailored to different members of BNK48 and usable across various Grab services.

As a thank-you to group fans that use Grab services, Grab will also be hosting an exclusive Grab x BNK48 party to be held in the next quarter.

Up to Bt20 billion of the earmarked funds will be spent in 2019, with spending for the following years in the targeted period averaging at Bt15 billion a year.

The investment funds will come from the company’s revenue, initial cash flows, the issuance of debentures, and the issuance of a real estate investment trust, Naris said at a press conference.

On Monday, the company announced plans to launch the S Prime Growth Leasehold Real Estate Investment Trust (SPRIME) as a funding vehicle with an initial investment in 30-year leasehold rights in the Sun Towers office complex on Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road. As of August 30, the Sun Towers office had an occupancy ratio of 95.1 per cent. The company has submitted a draft prospectus for review by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the initial offering process for the real estate invest trust (REIT) is pending the regulator’s approval.

Naris declined to disclose the proposed value of the REIT issue, as this would be announced next week.

However, the company reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on November 13 that the company would issue a REIT worth no more than Bt5.71 billion. The initiative forms part of the company’s business plan announced in March for the issuance of a REIT to be valued at up to Bt20 billion from 2019 to 2020.

For the company’s investment plan for 2019, the company aims to launch one condominium worth about Bt4 billion and one mixed-used project that incorporates offices and retail space on Vibhavadi-Rangsit road, near the Sun Tower office complex, worth Bt4 billion.

A further Bt5 billion will spent to acquire land for the development of residential projects from 2020 to 2023. Some Bt7 billion will spend on mergers and acquisitions involving assets in both the domestic and overseas markets, covering sectors such as hospitality, offices and retail.

“For our mergers and acquisitions business, we expect a yield of about 8 per cent a year and a return on investment averaging 14 per cent a year. It will take about eight years to pay back all of our investment,” Naris said.

However, he declined to give more details on the kinds of businesses that the company was keen on investing in. He indicated its new businesses would be related to property and would not be overly dependent on business opportunities and a return of investment back to the company. Still, Naris said the new businesses had to generate recurring income to the group and that would boost its recurring income to 50 per cent of the group revenue in 2021.

Under the aggressive investment for 2019, the company expects its total revenue to achieve Bt20 billion, with up to 60 per cent of the total coming from sales at its residential projects. The remainder will come from recurring income from the company’s holdings of offices and hotels in Thailand and overseas, Naris said.

He added up to 20 per cent of its total revenue in 2019 will come from the company’s overseas businesses.

The company expects its overseas revenue will grow to account for 30 per cent of its total revenue in 2023, in line with the business target for it to become a global holding company in 2023, Naris said.

In the first nine months of this year, the company reported total revenue of Bt3.89 billion, up 18 per cent from the same period of last year. It had a net profit of Bt981 million, in contrast from its net loss of Bt82 million in the same period of last year.

For 2020 to 2023, the company plans to launch at lease one condominium and one mixed-use project a year and will continue to pursue mergers and acquisitions of new businesses to drive its business towards sustainable growth each year, Naris said.

“Our business strategy is to be a global holding company firm and also to be a member of the Dow Jones Sustainable Index in 2023,” he said. “That means we have to drive our annual business growth into the double digits by aggressive investments in both the domestic and overseas markets. This is backed by our strong confidence in the growth of the country’s economy and the global economy that will support our business growth.”

At present, Singha Estate develops condominiums under the Esse brand and has two office buildings in Thailand, along with 37 hotels with a combined 4,000 rooms in Thailand, Europe, the Maldives and Fiji.

 Under this new look, the sukiyaki restaurant also emphasises global conservation under the “Coca Sustainability” scheme, which is in line with the new management’s strategy and tight collaboration with its subsidiary, Coca Boutique Farm.

The Coca CentralWorld branch will officially open on November 28.

Nataree Panpensophon, a new-generation businesswoman and the third-generation Coca Suki heir who has taken the helm from her father, Pitaya Panpensophon, as chief operating officer of Coca Holding International, said the first Coca restaurant at CentralWorld under her management would totally abandon the old look with an unexpected new image, but remain in line with the global conservation concept under the new management policy.

“In the past, people tended to eat out because of the quality and taste of the food more than the decoration and conveniences of the restaurant, but nowadays, deliciousness is not only the key, as the place needs to be nice with full conveniences as well the good taste, services and environment that do not make customers feel rushed – and this New Coca CentralWorld branch accommodates those demands,” she said.

“We will continue to serve the legendary Cantonese sukiyaki dish that is guaranteed as the first and only original delicious sukiyaki … The deliciousness of Coca Suki is not only limited to Thailand but also overseas, which includes the original soup recipe that has its own identity along with the seasonal raw materials that also support farmers in particular areas under the ‘Coca Sustainability’ policy.

“Coca’s chefs delicately choose the materials and adapt with the Coca menu. Moreover, Coca proudly presents a fresh dim-sum menu from a Hong Kong chef for Thai consumers to taste the deliciousness without having to go all the way to Hong Kong,” she added.

The business is following the “60’s is the new 20’s” new restaurant concept, which is minimalist with large space and accommodates all target groups and lifestyles from family, friends or singletons to be part of Coca community.

Coca has developed services that will provide more convenience for customers, with wireless mobile-phone charging and USB at every table.

Also, for customers who prefer a cashless society, the new branch offers financial innovations with various payment applications, which include QR Scan for commercial banks, as well as overseas banks through Alipay Wechatpay.

Moreover, there will be an official launch of Coca Boutique Farm at the November 28 event, as a major part of the Coca restaurant network that focuses on organic products.

The service is expected to be a shot in the arm for Thailand’s transition into the digital age, enabling businesses in every sector to join the paperless society, the company’s founder and chief executive officer, Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, said yesterday.

The service by Creden allows online documents to be created for electronic signing within one minute and these online documents can be signed electronically through any device, anywhere and anytime. The service also is compatible with the online identity verification system of any organisation as well as the electronic time stamping (e-Timestamping) service from the Electronic Transaction Development Agency (ETDA), making identity verification less complicated and helping cut operation costs.

“Today, we’re ready to provide this service without any charge to build greater trust among our target users, including finance-related entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises, startups, online entrepreneurs, B2B (business to business) firms, securities firms, lawyers council, law firms, and construction companies, for example,” he said.

According to Soranun Jiwasurat, deputy executive director of ETDA (Public Organisation), the introduction of this electronic document and signing solution will provide a practical alternative for electronic documents and signing to both the public and business sectors. The ETDA has supported this service from Creden with its e-Timestamping service to further improve its credibility.

On top of that, the ETDA also is eager to provide support and assistance in the enhancement of such a service to meet higher standards of privacy by design and security, which will foster trust among the users. This service will become available free of charge as a New Year’s gift to the people.

“The e-Timestamping service is aimed at supporting e-document service by certifying the existence of an e-document, the revisions of which can be tracked for the interest of the users to be protected,” added Soranun.

In Thailand, Creden is the first provider of such services as eKYC, digital signature and credit scoring. Below are the details.

The eKYC service makes it easier to process online transactions by facilitating the authentication using face-matching technology (together with ID card) and blockchain technology.

After the authentication is verified, the system will create an online PDF document, which is accompanied by a login dashboard, document management and e-signature functionalities. This allows users to create their signature, upload photos and create blogs, while the e-document is trackable and can be signed by multiple users.

This service is in compliance with the Electronic Transactions Act BE 2544 that considers e-signatures to be legally binding. This means that this solution from Creden will enable online transactions that need electronic time stamping for credibility purpose to be completed faster with the e-Timestamping service from ETDA, which makes it possible to track changes and verify completeness of the e-document.

The online credit scoring is based on analyses of data from multiple sources, including government agencies such as National Credit Bureau, as well as social media, aiming to facilitate financial loans and transactions, both online and offline, by providing accurate results for individual customers or corporations.