The company’s executives have forecast higher income and profits this year on the back of improved purchasing power and the resumption of operations at its glass bottle plant.

Elsewhere in the market, a maker of glass products under Bangkok Glass Group, BG Container Glass Plc (BGC), majority-held by Thailand’s beer-making giant Boon Rawd Brewery, will make its debut on the Thai bourse today.

Osotspa opened at Bt30 per share, 20 per cent above its Bt25 initial public offering price. The stock dropped to a low of Bt27 before closing the day at Bt27.25, with an active trading volume of Bt10.75 billion. The average trade price was Bt28.48.

Niti Osathanugrah, a major shareholder in OSP, had sold 36 big-lot transactions of 135.16 million shares to institutional investors at Bt25 apiece for Bt3.38 billion in total.

Petch Osathanugrah, chief executive officer of OSP, said that about Bt2.42 billion of the Bt12.67 billion proceeds through the IPO will be used to finance construction of a new energy drink plant in Myanmar with estimated production start in the fourth quarter of next year, the construction of a Babi Mild baby powder plant as well as for improvements to production efficiency and debt repayment.

OSP also plans to expand in neighbouring countries and has been studying market expansion plans in Vietnam and China.

Porntida Boonsa, chief financial officer of OSP, said that company expected to see higher income and net profit this year . Last year, the company booked income of Bt26.21 billion and Bt2.94 billion in net profit.

Although OSP recorded a year-on-year decline in its income for the first half of this year due to the temporary shutdown of its glass container plant for maintenance, a better result is expected in the second half the glass container plant has resumed operation, she said. First-half income stood at Bt12.54 billion with Bt1.47 billion in net profit .

Surin Osathanugrah, OSP chairman, said that the company started from a small pharmaceutical shop in 1891 and has now been in business for 127 years.

Today, BGC will start trading of its shares on the Thai exchange. The company has set an initial public offering of 194.44 million shares at Bt10.20 each.

Under the partnership, the joint venture’s initial plan is to open 100 outlets of The Coffee Club over the next five years. Minor International did not disclose the investment costs under the deal.

Chaiyapat Paitoon, deputy chief financial officer and strategic planning for Minor International, said the outlook for the restaurant sector in Vietnam is promising, driven by a growing middle class, rapidly increasing urbanisation and improved purchasing power.

“Restaurant businesses show strong potential in Vietnam because people want a wider variety of cuisines, paving the way for foreign players to come in and offer different choices in addition to traditional, local and street food. Vietnam is increasingly picking up trends and cuisine from all over the world,” Chaiyapat said, adding that the company is also looking for new opportunities to launch other restaurant brands into the Vietnamese market at a later stage.

Chaiyapat said that apart from Thailand, Minor Food, which is a subsidiary of Minor International, has a presence in 27 countries across the region, operating restaurants under both the owned and franchised business models. In Southeast Asia, the group operates restaurant businesses in Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Minor Food currently has 83 outlets in Vietnam alone, comprising The Pizza Company, Swensen’s, Thai Express, and now with the introduction of The Coffee Club.

“We’ll continue to strengthen our footprint in Vietnam,” Chaiyapat said.

VI Group is an experienced operator in the country with a strong platform of over 120 restaurants. The partnership reiterates MINT’s commitment to the promising potential of Vietnam, as well as its aspiration to grow The Coffee Club brand globally, Chaiyapat said.

MINT first entered Vietnam in 1995 with a joint venture in a hotel in Hai Phong. In 2009, the company established its restaurant footprint with the launch of three casual-dining restaurant brands, including The Pizza Company, Swensen’s and Thai Express.

Today, MINT has 83 restaurant outlets across the three brands, as well as operating four hotels in four cities in Vietnam. The Coffee Club partnership is the latest development by MINT and adds the fourth brand to the food portfolio in the country with one of the fastest-growing economies. Since opening its doors in Brisbane in 1989, The Coffee Club has become Australia’s largest home-grown cafe group with more than 400 outlets throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Maldives, Seychelles, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

“This is a great step forward for The Coffee Club as it makes its first entry into Vietnam”, said Paul Kenny, chief executive officer of Minor Food. “With the flourishing coffee market and favourable macro trend, we are very optimistic about the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the country and grow The Coffee Club brand nationwide.

“Together with VI Group’s proven experience and well-established platform in Vietnam, we are confident that we can replicate the same success of The Coffee Club in other markets.”

David Do, managing director of VI Group, said: “We are excited for the opportunity to grow our partnership with Minor International and introduce The Coffee Club brand in Vietnam.

“The Coffee Club offers a distinctive restaurant experience with great selections of food and beverages menus, excellent coffee and a welcoming relaxed atmosphere enriching the contemporary lifestyles of the Vietnamese consumers. We believe The Coffee Club will be a great success in this market and look forward to opening the restaurants soon.”

VI Group has become an exclusive franchisee of The Pizza Company and Swensen’s since 2015. The Coffee Club is the latest addition to its restaurant portfolio, which includes more than 10 restaurant brands.

The first The Coffee Club restaurant was opened in Ho Chi Minh City in the second quarter of this year. About 20 new The Coffee Club restaurants will be opened in Vietnam next year.

It is planning another 20 clubs in Greater Bangkok and provincial cities, according to Mike Lamb, Asia CEO of Jetts. “The chain believes a total of 100 clubs in Thailand in the next five years is eminently achievable,” he said.

“We have embarked on a significant expansion plan in March 2018, with the simultaneous opening of four new clubs, followed by three clubs in September, taking the total to 10 clubs. A further two clubs are set to open in December,” Lamb said.

“A total of 12 clubs are therefore set to be up and running by the end of 2018. In just nine months, we have launched nine new clubs in what is a fiercely competitive market. Jetts is now the fastest-growing fitness chain in Thailand,” he added. “We are also the largest 24-hour fitness chain in Thailand with a market share of over 50 per cent in the segment.”

It offers no-lock-in contracts, affordable membership, convenience and 24-hour access.

Lamb said: “We want to be a place where people want to come and work and members want to join just so they can experience what it’s like to be a part of the Jetts family.”

VI already operates more than 120 restaurants in the country. Minor says the partnership reiterates its commitment to the potential of Vietnam, as well as its aspiration to expand The Coffee Club brand globally. Under the partnership, the initial plan is to open 100 outlets of The Coffee Club over the next five years.

Minor International first entered Vietnam in 1995 with a joint venture in a hotel in Hai Phong. In 2009, the began targeting Vietnam’s diners with launch of three restaurant brands – The Pizza Company, Swensen’s and Thai Express. Today, Minor has 83 restaurant outlets across the three brands and also operates four hotels in four different cities in Vietnam. The Coffee Club partnership adds the fourth brand in Minor’s food portfolio for one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Since opening its doors in Brisbane in 1989, The Coffee Club has become Australia’s largest home-grown café group with more than 400 cafés throughout Australia, New Zealand, Maldives, Seychelles, Thailand, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates.

“This is a great step forward for The Coffee Club as it makes its first entry into Vietnam”, said Paul Kenny, CEO of Minor Food. “With the flourishing coffee market and favorable macro trend, we are very optimistic about the opportunity to strengthen our presence in the country and grow The Coffee Club brand nationwide. Together with VI Group’s proven experience and well-established platform in Vietnam, we are confident that we can replicate the same success of The Coffee Club in other markets.”

VI Group has been the exclusive local franchisee of the Pizza Company and Swensen’s since 2015. The Coffee Club is the latest addition to its restaurant portfolio, which includes more than 10 leading restaurant brands. David Do, Managing Director of VI Group commented, “We are excited for the opportunity to grow our partnership with Minor International and introduce The Coffee Club brand in Vietnam. The Coffee Club offers distinctive restaurant experience with great selections of food and beverages menus, excellent coffee and welcoming relaxed atmosphere enriching contemporary lifestyles of the Vietnamese consumers. We believe The Coffee Club will be a great success in this market and look forward to opening the restaurants soon.”

Amorn Suvachittanont, Kbank’s first senior vice president, said: “Simply by tapping their Fitbit, cardholders can easily make payments without carrying a credit card, for greater convenience and security.”

He added that Bumrungrad and Biotia will develop technology to analyse, diagnose and treat cases involving drug-resistant pathogens. The two partners are starting with 1,000 samples, which will be collected, analysed and stored in the database at Bumrungrad International Hospital Clinical Laboratories.

In Thailand, it is estimated that there are 87,751 cases of antibiotic resistance each year, resulting in 38,481 deaths, which accounts for 40 per cent of all of patient deaths. They also require 3.24 more million days in hospital. Annual spending on anti-microbials usually lies between Bt2.539 billion and Bt6.084 billion and the economic impact of drug resistance is approximately Bt40 billion.

Shigeru Kimoto, president of Takashimaya Group, said SIAM Takashimaya would be a mix of Thai and Japanese cultures. “We will gather products from ‘the land of the rising sun’ here with over 530 shops, of which 80 stores will open in Thailand for the first time,” he said.

Rinskor is still awaiting regulatory approval.

Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture division of DowDuPont Inc, will soon become an independent entity specialising in agricultural technology.

It has already reached up to 7 million farmers across Asia and was one of the sponsors of the three-day event that will wrap up today.

“Corteva Agriscience aims to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come,” Krysten Harden, senior vice president of external affairs and chief sustainability officer for Corteva Agriscience, said at interview with the Nation yesterday.

“In Asean, rice is the source of the region’s food security, furthermore, 49 per cent of the global export of rice comes from Asean, making it a key market for Corteva Agriscience. Therefore, Corteva Agriscience has been keen to introduce new agricultural technologies to farmers in the region,” Siregar explained.

“One of the main issues that farmers in Thailand are facing is weed control. There’s a certain type of weed Thai farmers are struggling to manage, affecting about 40 per cent of the total farms in the country, amounting to 3.5 million hectares,” she said.

“By working with Thai regulatory officials, we will launch ‘Rinskor’, a weed-control solution that has just won the ‘Green Chemistry Award’, given to the development of new chemical products which have the potential to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances,” Siregar added.

“The product performs well against the toughest kinds of weed, while also being the most sustainable and environmentally friendly weed-control solution to date.”

Farmers may not be keen

However, many farmers in Thailand may not be so keen on adopting this new technology.

“This is because many farmers have been using methods that have been in their family for generations. However, with the increasing impact of climate change, it is important that Thai farmers adopt these new innovations in order to maximise their yield and better cope with the challenges they face,” she said.

To address this issue, Corteva Agriscience has set up “demonstration farms” to show Thai farmers that new technological solutions in agriculture are effective.

“For many farmers, seeing is believing. Hence, if farmers see that new technological solutions work in their neighbouring area, or in demonstration farms, they will be keen to adopt it,” Siregar explained.

Corteva Agriscience has also established education programmes for farmers across the country, aiming to teach them more innovative methods of rice farming as well as give them lessons on economics, she explained.

“For instance, we share with farmers the key stages of growing rice and show them how to fully maximise their yield by following the most effective methods in each stage,” Siregar said.

“We also feel that when we talk about sustainability, it means we have to have smarter and more profitable farmers.

When farmers are making a loss, being environmentally sustainable is not going to be their main concern.

“Hence, we urge Thai farmers to really look at their farm as an enterprise. This way they can actually learn how to calculate their input costs, their labour costs and be able to estimate their yield and return on investment,” she added.

The 5th International Rice Congress also featured the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Corteva Agriscience and the International Rice Research Institute to announce their commitment to a multi-year framework on collaborative rice research, the deployment of new breeding technologies and development of breeding programmes.