They said it would be the largest single business investment in Kayah State.

The De Heus project will work to address significant issues facing domestic pork production in Myanmar, including problems related to the quality of feed, breeding stock, veterinary services, bio-security issues and the genetics of domestic pigs, which negatively affect pig producers and consumers.

The project will be investing across the swine production value chain in Myanmar, setting up the country’s first pig stud farm near Loikaw, Kayah State, and importing 250 sows with high-quality genetics from overseas.

De Heus will also establish demonstration farms in Kachin, Chin, Naypyitaw, Shan, Yangon, Bago, Mandalay, Pyay, Pathein and Kayah to provide training for around 10,000 farmers to improve their pig-rearing and management practices.

Alongside this work, De Heus will collaborate with Kayah State’s government and the national-level Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department to improve the business environment for pig farmers.

Nicolas Bernardin has been appointed as country director for Vietnam,

Massimo Marinzi is to lead Thailand and Myanmar as country director and

Benoit Nalin expands his current portfolio as country director overseeing eight countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka

South East Asia’s combined GDP per capita increased from $122 (Bt3,975) in 1976 to $4,021 in 2017. With the amount of natural and human capital that South East Asia possesses, expectations for further growth is high, the company said. The plan for growth was mapped out in the Asean 2018 development initiative, where technology adoption was one of the two focus areas for the region.

Thales announced the appointments to continue supporting the long-term development and ambitions of the South East Asian economies.

Nicolas Bernardin, who has been appointed country director in Vietnam, has more than 12 years experience in the organisation.

In his new role, he will lead and drive Thales’ growth in Vietnam to support the government’s initiatives and to further develop strategic industrial partnerships. He will also continue to sustain the group’s extensive efforts in the country, which involves projects in aerospace, space, defence, transportation and security.

Prior to his current role, Bernardin was a key account manager for Thales’ land defence and security business in Indonesia.

He takes over from Massimo Marinzi, who is now tasked to lead Thales business in Thailand and Myanmar.

Massimo Marinzi, formerly country director in Vietnam, has assumed his new role to spearhead the growth and development of the group in Thailand and Myanmar. He has close to two decades of experience in developing businesses and strategic partnerships.

In his new position, he will focus on developing business in Thailand to contribute to the success of Thailand 4.0. For 30 years, Thales has been supporting Thai customers’ ambitions across the defence and civilian arenas as well as developing local expertise and industrial capabilities.

Benoit Nalin, current country director for Thales in Bangladesh, Philippines and Sri Lanka will expand his portfolio to include Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives and Nepal.

NBTC’s secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said the folk tale-based series, “Sang Thong”, had boosted Channel 7 HD’s monthly rating increase to 7.708, while TV-drama “Angkor” delivered a 5.311 rating for Channel 3 HD and maintained its second-place spot. The “Harry Potter” series boosted Mono29 from fourth place in August to third in September.

The agency also affirmed AIS’ national long-term rating at “AA+(tha)” with a stable outlook and national short-term rating at “F1+(tha)”.

At the same time, Fitch affirmed subsidiary Advanced Wireless Network Co Ltd’s (AWN) national long-term rating at “AA+(tha)” with a stable outlook, its national short-term rating at “F1+(tha)”, and its national senior unsecured rating at “AA+(tha)”.

The strategy will cover five features including easy payment, enhanced liquidity, sales channels, K online shop space or KOS, and K Digibiz.

The strategy responds to the growing e-commerce trend and the demand of the online business segment, says the Bank’s president Patchara Samalapa.

He said that according to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (a public organisation), e-commerce is growing steadily as business activities evolve.

In 2017, e-commerce transactions in Thailand totalled Bt2.81 trillion, of which Bt812.61 billion went to business-to-customer (B2C) trade. In 2018, e-commerce transactions were expected to grow 17 per cent to reach a total value of Bt949.12 billion, with transactions via social media, the e-marketplace and modern-trade online platforms under Brand.com accounting for 40, 35 and 25 per cent, respectively. Funds transfers via banks have become the most popular mode of payment, representing 65 per cent while the other 35 per cent are through credit cards.

KBank accounts are the most popular channel for customers making e-payment transactions. About 300,000 KBank customers are in online businesses, some of which are encountering multiple pain points in their operations. Those include intense competition, lack of online marketing knowledge, management difficulties, insufficient working capital and an inability to fulfil customers’ needs via various channels.These businesses are seeking to expand their sales channels, says Patchara.

Online business start-ups, as well as people interested in setting up their own enterprises, need to learn how to sell products successfully and how to choose the right goods, he said.