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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024370

Minor expects collaboration with European NH brand to boost growth

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Minor Hotels is collaborating with the European NH Hotel Group as part of a strategy to attract more guests from western countries, which could boost the hotel chain’s growth by 20 per cent.

Dillip Rajakarier, Group CEO Minor International and CEO Minor Hotels, told a press conference on Thursday that the collaboration with NH Hotel Group, Europe’s fourth-largest hotel company, would provide more diverse and unique experiences for tourists visiting the country.

The move follows a strong rebound in Thailand’s tourism industry and is an effort to push occupancy rates to more than 75% as in 2019.

He explained that due to the limited number of flights arriving in Thailand, it would be difficult and time-consuming to restore the occupancy rate to pre-Covid-19 levels, hence Minor Hotels should focus on room rates instead.

Rajakarier expected the revenue of Minor Hotels in Thailand to continue growing with a 10-15% bottomline growth.

The NH Hotel brand made its debut recently in Thailand with the signing of NH Boat Lagoon Phuket Resort. The group will add two more properties in the country to its NH Collection.

NH Collection Chiang Mai Ping River is currently under development in Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai. The new hotel will open in the fourth quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, work on the upcoming NH Collection Rayong Resort & Residences has begun. It is expected to open within the next two years.

“Our strategies will be for more joint investments with various funds and property owners, starting this year. We plan to expand our portfolio of hospitality management contracts and franchise opportunities under the Oaks, NH Hotel, and Avani brands,” Rajakarier explained.

The strategy is part of Minor Hotels’ commitment to expanding NH Hotel Group’s brands, with 10 new properties set to open in Asia and the Middle East in 2023 and 2024.

Aside from two NH Collection hotels in Thailand, China will add three NH Hotels and two NH Collection hotels, and the Middle East will see the brand make its debut with three NH Collection openings — two in Dubai and one in Doha.

Overall, the six new NH Collection properties and two NH Hotels are set to launch in 2023, plus one NH Hotel and one NH Collection in 2024, adding 2,643 keys to the Minor Hotels group.

“This is just the start and we continue to explore opportunities to further grow the footprint of NH Collection, NH and nhow in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean,” Rajakarier stated.

Sriya Yongsakul, director of Phuket Boat Lagoon, who made the decision to rebrand her hotel with the NH brand, explained that the joint investment helped raise the bar in terms of hotel quality while expanding the hotel’s brand recognition, particularly in Europe and South America.

She praised Minor Hotels’ management for helping NH Boat Lagoon Phuket Resort address its current urgent pain point, which is a labour shortage.

Jirath Pavaravadhana, the chairman of Osmo Properties Group, which is the owner of the NH Collection Chiang Mai Ping River and the NH Collection Rayong Resort & Residences, anticipated that the hotel would draw both domestic and foreign guests who would spend more money while staying longer.

(From left) MC, Dillip Rajakarier, Sriya Yongsakul and Jirath Pavaravadhana

Rajakarier expressed confidence in Thailand’s tourism recovery, which will enable Minor Hotels to fully reopen and perform even better this year with the return of Chinese tourists, who account for 40% of all tourists.

He emphasised that Thailand is always a favoured tourist destination. The country is still ranked fourth in tourist spending.

Minor Hotels currently has more than 530 hotels in operation. Through Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Tivoli, M Collection, NH Collection, NH, nhow, Elewana, Marriott, Four Seasons, St. Regis, Radisson Blu and Minor International properties, Minor Hotels now operates in 56 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, South America and North America.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024361

“PT Service Masters” revolutionise petrol stations with 7-star quality

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

PTG Energy has launched its new service enhancement program by assigning “PT Service Masters” – experts in petrol station services – to provide 7-star services at selected PT stations nationwide, being the first brand in Thailand to do so.

After winning the “Business+ Product of The Year Awards 2022” jointly organised by Business+ magazine and College of Management Mahidol University, PTG Energy Public Company Limited continues its journey into 2023 as a modern organisation that focuses on improving service quality and customer satisfaction in all aspects. 

Intending to revolutionise old images of petrol service stations, PTG recently launched its new service-focused program titled “PT Service Master” at selected PT stations nationwide. Every PT Service Master is committed to taking care of customers, providing advice on products and services, and ensuring customers’ highest satisfaction and benefits from each visit to the PT station. The program aims to create a positive impression that prompts customers to come back in the future and establish PT as a top-of-mind brand among Thai motorists.

Pitak Ratchakitprakarn, president and chief executive officer of PTG, said that to increase service quality the company has been surveying customers’ needs and empathy, as well as collecting input from service staffers in the past five years. 

Under the program, PTG carefully handpicked qualified personnel who are well-trained in all aspects of petro station’s services and gave them personality training to become PT Service Masters, he added.

“PT Service Masters’ task is to upgrade the service quality of PT stations to the same level as 7-star hotels. At these pilot stations there will no longer be Dek Pump (pumping boys), but will have Service Masters instead,” said Pitak. 

“These specialists will assist customers in all aspects with a focus on selecting the best services and benefits for each customer, ranging from privileges of PT Max Card, motor oil change, and other promotional campaigns. PT Service Masters are also responsible for surveying customers’ needs and collecting feedback to further improve their service quality,” he added.

PTG has been selecting qualified personnel to join the PT Service Master workforce from within the organisation and by recruiting from the general public. The company has been providing extensive training in the petrol business and customer service by experts and instructors who are well-known at the national level. “PTG is committed to taking care of our employees and making them happy, which will prompt them to pass on the happiness to customers and surrounding communities,” added the CEO.

Currently, 200 PT Service Masters have been providing top-notch services at 100 selected PT stations. The company plans to increase the number of PT Service Masters to 500 within this year and to 2,000 in the next three years to expand the program’s coverage to all PT stations nationwide.

PTG is the first petrol service provider in Thailand that uses “Service Master” to take its service quality to the next level, distinguishing itself from other brands of petrol stations. The program is a huge success as can be seen from the 25% jump in PT Max Card membership subscriptions at petrol stations that have PT Service Masters.

PT Service Master

++Responsibilities

• Provide services to customers of PT petrol stations, ensure their highest satisfaction and maintain a customer base
• Provide consulting service and coordinate with other departments to solve problems related to customers’ usage of petrol station
• Present the company’s products, services and sales promotion campaigns to customers

++ Workforce overview

• 200 PT Service Masters at present 
• Stationed at 100 selected PT petrol stations nationwide 
• To be expanded to 500 PT Service Masters in 2023
• Target 2,000 PT Service Masters in three years, covering all petrol stations nationwide

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024344

Asset World spending 1 billion baht to rebrand flagship

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Asset World Corp (AWC) is investing 1 billion baht to turn its flagship office tower, The Empire, into what it calls a “revolutionary lifestyle space that embraces the future of work-life integration”, the company announced on Wednesday.

AWC CEO and President Wallapa Traisorat told a press conference that 1,500 square metres of The Empire will be turned into a co-living space, bringing a home-like experience and large facilities to the workplace. These will include a living room, a communal kitchen and dining area, a kids’ room, and a pet hotel, she said.

The company is also rebranding the building’s rooftop, saying it will offer a wider range of international food and beverages.

AWC will continue to offer tenants hotel-like services through an app connecting them to all AWC-affiliated hotels.

Wallapa said The Empire was “currently valued at 20 billion baht”.

Its renovation and rebranding will be completed in November, with its co-working space opening in the first quarter of this year, she said.

Wallapa Traisorat

Nongluck Ajanapanya

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024343

Cat litter Thai startup forges new partnership to penetrate domestic market

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

A fully Thai-owned organic cat litter startup is tying up with Thonglor International Pet Hospital and a private investor to scale up its manufacturing process and grow sales by 10 per cent over the next five years.

Wealthy Moggie Innovation (WMI) expects the 10-million-baht investment to assist the company in implementing an active marketing strategy to raise brand awareness of “Hide and Seek” cat litter in the domestic market.

Vattanaporn Tungsagna, WMI’s sales director, co-founder, who is also a cat lover, told a press conference on Wednesday that Hide and Seek is made entirely of Thai cassava.

“After finding out that the majority of cat litter in Thailand is imported, we were perplexed as to why there has been no made-in-Thailand product, even though we have plenty of natural sources. So we started experimenting until we found the right ingredients that are both effective at eliminating odours and safe for cats, owners, and the environment,” he explained.

He estimates the product currently has a 1-2% market share in Thailand. He expects to reach at least 10% in the next five years. Meanwhile, he hopes to expand his pet shop partners from the current 400. According to Wattanporn, there are over 5,000 pet stores in Thailand.

The company aims to earn 22 million baht from product sales this year as there has been a surge in international orders. The company’s plant can produce 40 containers per month.

“We also intend to launch a new innovative cat-litter product that will aid in the early detection of feline disease. The product will be available around the middle of the year,” he said.

He added that the products were well received in the market, particularly in the international market. When compared to other brands, Hide and Seek clumps up quickly, according to customer feedback. Furthermore, the product is chemical- and odour-free, has long-lasting odour control, high absorbtion, and is safe to flush.

“We are now exporting to South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and Dubai. We are in discussions with dealers both in India and Japan. Unfortunately, we are not popular in our home country. So, we need a more comprehensive marketing strategy to raise brand awareness,” Wattanaporn said.

He added that Hide and Seek cat litter sales would help increase the value of cassava grown by Thai farmers by up to 16 times.

Poolperm T.charoenpoolporn, Thonglor International Pet Hospital executive director and finance director, said that growth opportunities in the pet industry average about 5-10% per year, as couples without children, LGBTQ groups, and the elderly are increasingly looking for pets. These people are willing to spend money on food, utensils, and services to improve the quality of life of their pets.

He believes that the joint investment with WMI will yield enormous returns.

Boonpaween Boonmechote, an independent investor and Thai Union Frozen Products’ planning and strategy department manager, added that the goal of his joint venture is to bring about improvements in production processes, cost reduction, productivity improvement, expand distribution channels, and the opportunity to export cat litter products.

Wealthy Moggie Innovation has received support from Thailand’s National Innovation Agency (NIA) through “Nilmangkorn” (Onyx Dragon horse), an accelerator programme that helps Thai entrepreneurs and startups grow their businesses.

Krithpaka Boonfueng, NIA deputy executive director, said the programme would educate and assist in the development of business plans and products by connecting business owners with NIA researchers and the investor network.

“WMI is our first onyx dragon horse from this programme. However, we intend to expand our Thai unicorn creations with ‘Nilmangkorn Season 2’, which will be open for applications soon,” she said.

Pan-arj Chairat, president of the NIA, said that the programme was part of the agency’s efforts to promote and support Thailand’s innovation ecosystem. The goal is to address innovative business development and use innovative tools to increase their own competitiveness as well as build a better understanding of the mechanism of joint ventures, he added.
 

Nongluck Ajanapanya

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024320

JKN Global selects El Salvador to host 72nd Miss Universe pageant in Nov-Dec

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2023

After the grand success of Miss Universe 2022’s final round that registered almost one billion viewers from 121 countries, El Salvador has announced its decision to pay an undisclosed sum of money to JKN Global Group Public Company Limited to host Miss Universe 2023 pageant.

The 2022’s final round was broadcasted via streaming channels, social media as well as television networks including the number one Spanish channel Telemundo.

One of the key moments of the event that was lauded by foreign media worldwide was the beautiful speech by Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, Chief Executive Officer of JKN Global Group, and the owner of the Miss Universe organization.  

The CEO’s Woman Empowerment Vision celebrates feminism, while promoting cultural diversity, social opportunities, and gender equality. The speech also focuses on how to empower all women to feel empowered, through the concept of Transformational Leadership or leadership reforms to enhance the value of the Miss Universe pageant.

The television network Telemundo cited data from AGB Nielsen Media Research Company ratings survey that the live broadcast of the 71st Miss Universe Finals on Saturday January 14, was rated as the number one among channels in viewers aged 18 – 49. The channel, the only television network live broadcasted in the glamourous pageant, attracted more than 2.4 million viewers, with the highest number of viewers among the age group 18-49 years old, or 84% growth and a 54% increase in overall audience numbers compared to the previous year.

In the United States, audiences in the 18-49 age bracket are number one in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Dallas, and Chicago. Talkwalker, a social media analysis website, said that the 71st Miss Universe Finals was ranked No. 1 in the lifestyle and social program category. It has 10.6 million social media views and 5.7 million audience participation from live broadcasts, online media, and social media distribution. 526 million minutes of content related to the Miss Universe Finals were watched, a 37% increase this year compared to last year.

As a result of the vision of supporting the empowerment and elevation of women and the success of the 71st Miss Universe pageant, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s President, decided to pay an undisclosed sum of money to JKN Global Group Public Company Limited under the leadership of Anne Jakapong to host the 72nd Miss Universe pageant. The event will take place from November to December 2023, which was earlier announced on the Miss Universe stage for the first time in 12 years. The deal is considered one of the successes and pride of the Bangkok-based JKN Global Group.

After managing the Miss Universe Organization for two and a half months, Miss Anne Jakapong said, “We are committed to further developing and integrating the Miss Universe organization as a platform for empowering women for all people in the universe, to lead, to be able to inspire, to be role models to others, and the Miss Universe pageant must be a platform that is conducted with the most transparency and fairness.”

From all the statistics and achievements, Miss Universe is considered the world’s number one beauty pageant and is ready to move into a new dimension of the contest that will drive society and empower women as leaders of social reform. This will give Thailand a standing ovation in the eyes of the world as well as the power to drive global society towards better change in all dimensions.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024310

SCG Packaging outlines THB100-bn investment plan for 5 years to step up growth

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

SCG Packaging (SCGP), Thailand’s leading multinational consumer packaging solutions provider, is focusing on investing in high-potential segments, accelerating innovation, and providing total packaging solutions in the midst of an economic recovery.

The plan is part of a five-year investment plan worth 100 billion baht (2021-2025), with a revenue target of 200 billion baht in 2025. This year, the company plans to ramp up operations in order to maintain business growth, with a revenue target of 160 billion baht.

Wichan Jitpukdee, SCGP’s chief executive officer, told a press conference on Tuesday that the packaging industry’s overall outlook in the first quarter of 2023 would see steady recovery as China begins to reopen the country.

Meanwhile, the Asean region would benefit from the recovery of tourism, import and export, and normalisation of the manufacturing supply chain.

“These factors have a positive effect on the overall economy and product consumption while increasing demand for packaging,” he said.

However, he noted that demand for packaging consumption is quite fragile due to ongoing challenges, such as prolonged volatility in the global economy, high inflationary pressures, interest rate hikes, and a fall in consumer purchasing power in many regions, particularly in major economies such as the United States and the European Union.

Wichan Jitpukdee

He said that SCGP was already well-prepared with a strategic cost management plan for the entire year. However, in order to sustain growth, the company would focus on merger and partnership (M&P) in packaging and other areas with high growth potential, particularly consumer goods, healthcare-related products, medical supplies, and labware.

“The investment budget for this year has been set at 18 billion baht,” he disclosed.

Meanwhile, SCGP will work with customers to develop innovations and value-added packaging solutions to meet the changing lifestyles of consumers. The budget for research, development, and innovation is set at 800 million baht, he said.

Other growth strategies include improving supply chain integration, proactive management and effective planning to deal with uncertainties, and implementing the Environment-Social-Governance concept.

“In 2025, we hope to increase the proportion of environmentally friendly packaging while increasing the recyclability rate of all products to 100%. Meanwhile, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are proceeding as planned in order to achieve net zero by 2050,” Wichan stated.

Danaidej Ketsuwan

SCGP’s chief financial officer, Danaidej Ketsuwan, revealed that the company had revenue of more than 146 billion baht in 2022, an increase of 18% over the same period last year.

The surge in revenue mainly came from increased production capacity and M&P.

In the meantime, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation were 19.402 billion baht, down 8% year on year. Profit at 5.801 billion baht also was down 30% over the previous year.

Danaidej explained the drop to higher energy costs and lower sales volume, as well as softening demand for packaging paper globally and regionally as a result of China’s strict lockdown.

He said SCGP needed new business ideas while strengthening its core product and it should expand into related businesses to maintain its position as the region’s leading consumer packaging provider.

Nongluck Ajanapanya

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024291

How to hold a zero-carbon shareholders’ meeting

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2023

One shareholders’ meeting can harm the world beyond your imagination: piles of papers, travel by shareholders, and food waste. SET-listed Buriram Sugar (BRR) Plc has now come up with ideas for holding zero-carbon shareholders’ meetings.

Among its carbon-reduction measures, BRR refrains from printing its meeting agenda and invitation letter on paper as is traditional practice. Instead, the company asks its shareholders to download a digital meeting document and invitation letter by scanning a QR code. Not a single piece of paper is used.

BRR chief executive officer Anant Tangtongwechakit revealed that Monday’s shareholders’ meeting was held under the theme “Toward a Sustainable Future” to reduce its carbon footprint. The meeting was planned with advice from the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).

The TCEB advised BRR to use a hybrid meeting format to reduce fuel consumed for shareholders’ travel. The vote at the meeting was also held electronically, using Blockchain AGM Voting technology that allowed shareholders to vote from anywhere without having to travel to the meeting venue. It also further reduced the use of paper.

Moreover, shareholders who wanted to be present physically at the meeting were encouraged to use public transport. To make it more convenient for them to do so, BRR selected a hotel that is located close to mass transit systems.

Meanwhile it encouraged those who wanted to drive to the meeting venue to share vehicles to reduce fuel consumption, Anant added.

BRR paid attention to every detail in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. The hotel was told not to use plastic, foam and fresh flowers in its decorations.

Drinking water was served in recyclable plastic bottles. No straws were handed out. For tea and coffee drinkers, the BRR provided its own sugar in glass receptacles instead of conventional paper sachets.

Adding to the carbon emission reduction measures, the hotel was selected based on its ecosystem awareness. BRR said the hotel recycles waste food into animal feed and compost to grow vegetables. The venue has been awarded Green Hotel (Bronze Level) and Asean MICE Venue Standard awards, Anant said.

Food was served to shareholders using bowls and dishes made of bagasse by Sugarcane Ecoware Co Ltd (SEW), a subsidiary of BRR. The bagasse eco-ware biodegrades in 45 days, Anant said.

The measures added up to a carbon emission reduction of over 4.3 tonnes, which is equivalent to growing a small forest.

“These measures helped us reduce carbon emissions by 4,333.65 kilograms, which is equivalent to growing 263 trees,” Anant concluded.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024280

Grab Thailand signs up for government’s tax rebate shopping scheme in Q1

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Grab Thailand will participate in the “Shop Dee Mee Kuen 2023 (shop and payback)” scheme via GrabMart in the first quarter, joining forces with leading retailers to help stimulate the economy.

Chantsuda Thananitayaudom, senior director, commercial and marketing, Grab Thailand, told a press release on Monday that the campaign would allow users to purchase everyday goods and request a full tax invoice request through the application for a tax rebate of up to 40,000 baht.

She said Grab Thailand wanted to become one of the forces in driving the Thai economy in early 2023 and to facilitate tax rebate benefits for users through purchases made through the GrabMart app.

Tops Market, Tops Fine Food, Tops Daily, J Gourmet, Lawson, FamilyMart, Betagro Deli, Betagro Shop, OfficeMate, B2S, Boots, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Beautrium, Oriental Princess, and Karmakamet are among the 15 leading retailers who are part of the scheme, offering a range of over 80,000 product items.

She revealed that Grab is offering exclusive discounts of up to 200 baht for GrabMart shoppers when using the ‘SHOPD’ code on a minimum purchase of 600 baht on GrabMart.

Users interested in the “Shop Dee Mee Kuen 2023” tax rebate scheme via GrabMart can make a purchase between January 23 and February 15, 2023.

Nongluck Ajanapanya

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024255

True Group shares visions on human and AI collaboration to inspire world-changing innovations

MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2023

With success, concluded the regional-renowned seminar, “MIT Media Lab Southeast Asia Forum”, run by MIT Media Lab, a world-leading research institution on technology, media, science, art, and design of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States.

The seminar was supported by True Group with the digital ecosystem that helped uplift tech and startup industry and True Digital Park opening its door to welcome participants from all over the world to show the true potential of Thailand and its people.

Mr Natwut Amornvivat, Chairman of the Board, True Digital Group, joined in with a special talk on “Human + AI: Opportunities and Challenges” and shared his thoughts on how AI technology will change the way businesses operate and how people live. In his talk, he also emphasized how True Group, as a leading tech company, strives to encourage the balance collaboration between humans and technology in order to create innovations that will put forward new developments for people, organizations, Thailand’s economy and its competitiveness, as well as the better living standards for Thai people. To fulfil the ambitious goals, he also outlined the plan to expand the collaboration on business and solution developments with other organizations in order to bring about top-of-the-line innovations for Thailand’s tech entrepreneurs and startups.

AI Technology: Life changer and business transformer

Stressing on True Group’s leadership as a tech company with integrated telecommunication infrastructure and end-to-end digital ecosystem, Natwut gave some examples of the innovations developed by True with the combination of AI technology and the various fields of knowledge from experts that move forward industries such as healthcare, agriculture, and retails.

Healthcare: Partners to expand fast and equal medical care

While Thailand may have an abundance of medical experts, most of them could be found in major hospitals and capital cities, resulting in inefficiency in equal reach to healthcare. To help alleviate the struggle, True strives to help decentralized the healthcare service system by partnering with leading medical institutions, such as King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, and Siriraj Hospital, as well as renowned medical professors.

True now has around 400,000 patients using telemedicine services and with a firm belief that we have on “Physical + Digital”, which aligns with Media Lab’s belief that the collaboration between humans and technology is better that relying solely on technology, True opened “TrueHEALTH corner” in many areas, equipped with basic health evaluation tools and the ability to immediately connect to doctors online, to help lessen the gap in healthcare service distribution.

In addition, True also worked with Ramathibodi Hospital and opened RAMA Health Spaces for all, which has a more spacious service floor and service offerings such as phlebotomy service, specimen collection for lab tests, chest x-ray, and EKG. In another collaboration with Siriraj Hospital, Smart EMS (Smart Emergency Medical Service), highlights a human-led solution by using technology in a supporting role with the medical expertise of doctors and nurses at the forefront. 

The collaboration was a reflection of True’s ambition to put forward partnerships and collaborations with every party in the ecosystem. It is True’s belief that once we have an integrated view of how the healthcare system connects, we can achieve the better service and solutions for the people.

Agriculture: Smart AgTech and the challenges in productivity

Though the agriculture sector is known to be the largest industry in Thailand, efficiency challenges still persist and result in a lacking quality of life for farmers and environmental problems. To tackle the pain points, True developed various solutions for each agricultural sector. For crops, we use satellite and drone technology to monitor and predict the upcoming impacts. For livestock, we use IoT and analytics to detect and analyse livestock’s behaviors, such as for dairy farms, we use health monitor tools that can alert farmers of potential health risks to curve early problems, for swine and shrimp, we use video analytics technology to detect movements in order to help plan and manage both the quality and the volume of the production. However, precision agriculture, robotic harvesting, and machinery quality control, among many others, are still some of the predominant challenges that True and startups are working together to crack, in order to uplift Thailand as the industry leader.

Retails: Revolutionize retails with AI

There is still room for retails to grow, from driving efficiency to serving customers’ needs better, which inspired True to develop various solutions to bridge the gaps. For example, heatmap was developed to learn more about how customers behave while in the store in order to improve the quality of services, a shelf detection system that sends alerts when the shelf is empty with connected data with the warehouse for planning, as well as AI-enabled sensor that analyses and monitor freezers to preserve product freshness. These are also some of the examples of how humans and AI need to work together; while challenges such as demand analysation, shell management, customer behaviour analysation, and personalized advertisements are still among some of the prevalent areas that need a collaborative network of organizations, startups, government, researchers, and innovators to work together to overcome.

Positive attitude and belief power innovations

Natwut concluded his talk with inspirational learning for participants; while AI may be able to help elevate works for humans, empathy is still something that AI cannot do. The collaboration between humans and AI is, therefore, what True has always believed in and practiced. Introducing innovations will also be met with doubts, but it is also a great opportunity for the innovator to be the first to succeed. A positive attitude and strong belief will be what open people’s mind and the key to making innovations come true.

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https://www.nationthailand.com/business/corporate/40024217

Minor International accelerates growth strategy, unveils three-year strategic plan

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2023

Nongluck Ajanapanya

Minor International (MINT), a Thai multinational focused on hospitality, restaurant, and lifestyle brands, has launched a three-year strategic plan focused on accelerating growth by improving productivity, cutting costs, and refining data analytics, MINT group CEO Dillip Rajakarier said on Friday.

“Moving into 2023, MINT is fully committed to driving business ‘back to growth’ with prudent business strategies and investment plans for Minor Hotels, Minor Food, and Minor Lifestyle, in order to remain market leaders capable of accommodating current and future customer demand,” he told a press conference.

MINT’s three-year strategic plan focuses on strengthening its brand portfolio, improving productivity and profitability, collaborating with partners to achieve growth, enhancing innovation and digitisation, empowering people and teams, and ensuring long-term growth, he said.

The company also anticipated that the rising number of tourists following the reopening of borders would help support business growth this year.

Dillip Rajakarier

“Tourist arrivals in Thailand are expected to rise from around 11 million in 2022 to 22 million in 2023. The two-fold increase in arrivals will be achieved as a result of Mainland China’s recent reopening on January 8, 2023, which is expected to result in additional tourist arrivals to previous forecasts, stimulate demand, and further drive economic activities for all MINT businesses,” he said.

Minor Hotels, Rajakarier said, would continue to see revenue growth this year due to an increase in advance bookings.

The company intends to raise both occupancy and room rates. It will also improve service to attract more business travellers and increase marketing, he said.

Minor Food’s revenues continue to grow across all channels while costs are being cut to increase profitability, Rajakarier said.

“New initiatives, such as new store formats, customer loyalty programmes to increase customer engagement, and new product development to create market excitement are examples of such efforts,” he said. “These strategies will continue to propel Minor Food to the forefront of its industry.”

Minor Lifestyle has expanded by focusing on being more customer-centric online as the e-commerce market expands, he said, adding that the unit of MINT would leverage data analytics “to increase customer retention and acquire new customers”.

Chaiyapat Paitoon

MINT issued new subordinated perpetual bonds, MINT No.1/2566, on December 2, 2022. MINT is rated “A” with a “stable” outlook by TRIS Rating, while the subordinated perpetual bonds are rated “BBB+”.

Chaiyapat Paitoon, MINT’s chief financial officer, said the funds raised from the bonds would help the company grow.

The new subordinated debentures will be sold to the public between February 7 and 9, through 11 Thai financial institutions.

Nongluck Ajanapanya