In addition, the insurer has developed “FA 2.0”, a comprehensive and intensive training programme specifically designed for AIA financial advisers together with innovative technology development in order to support its advisers to professionally deliver exceptional services to customers, the company said on Monday.

Kris Chantanotoke, chief agency officer of AIA Thailand, said: “Since we launched the AIA Financial Adviser [AIA FA] programme in 2009, we currently have more than 7,800 financial advisers. In [the first] seven months of 2018, there were more than 2,800 people joining the AIA FA programme – double-digit growth.

“Moreover, we currently have 15 AIA FA Centres across Thailand to provide comprehensive and intensive training courses to help support our agents to step up as ‘AIA Financial Advisers’ to professionally deliver the best possible customer experience to AIA policyholders.

“AIA FA therefore delivers better performance with an average 10 per cent higher than that of the general life-insurance agents in terms of cases submission, 13 per cent higher in terms of insurance premium per case, and 74 per cent higher in terms of active ratio. Recruiting more AIA Financial Advisers is clearly demonstrated to be a good key strategy to increase our production and customer-care efficiency.”

Alisa Simaroj, AIA Thailand’s chief agency management officer, meanwhile disclosed the road map for AIA agency development and the AIA FA plan.

“We have developed the FA 2.0 programme, a compulsory 12-month comprehensive and intensive training programme to prepare all of our financial advisers to have well-rounded skill and knowledge, including product features, financial planning, marketing analysis, selling skills, market-expansion strategy, and so on, to develop them to professionally deliver the exceptional services to customers,” she said.

“All AIA FAs will also be closely supervised and coached by experienced agency leaders and MDRT [Million Dollar Round Table] qualifiers through joint fieldwork. In addition, we have prepared a clear road map to build a successful career for our FAs, as well as to encourage and support them to become MDRT qualifiers, which is an utmost success in a life-insurance agent career,” Alisa added.

Digital technologies and innovations are also being deployed to provide total financial solutions in serving greater lending demand boosted by Thailand’s improved economy, the bank said.

With the synergy between Krungsri’s local expertise and its parent Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s (MUFG) global strength, the bank is confident it will achieve its 2018 loan-growth target for commercial banking at 6-8 per cent, said Pornsanong Tuchinda, Krungsri’s head of commercial banking.

“Lending demand from commercial-banking customers is likely to increase amid optimism that the overall economy is expected to grow further in the second half, driven by strong exports, tourism and public investments. The major catalysts for loan growth this year and next year will come from industries related to infrastructure projects, those related to investments in the Eastern Economic Corridor, export-oriented and tourism-related sectors, as well as business expansion at home and abroad.

“Another supportive factor is the government’s measures to increase SME [small and medium-sized enterprise] competitiveness and accessibility to funding,” he explained.

“Krungsri’s commercial banking has succeeded in building asset growth in the first half of this year, with loan growth of more than 6 per cent. The growth was mainly driven by a continued expansion of the Thai economy and positive signs of asset quality.

“Non-performing loans of Krungsri corporate customers this year have been stable in every segment, with the NPL ratio declining to 1.61 per cent at the end of the second quarter. As for the business plan for the rest of this year, Krungsri is forging ahead with the goals to become a trusted banking partner for large corporates and a main operating bank for SMEs.

“The plan can be materialised through collaboration with MUFG in leveraging its networks to facilitate credit extension, and provide financial support to Thai customers who invest overseas and foreign investors who want to invest in Thailand, as well as business-matching activities and joint investments between Japanese and Thai businesses, especially in the property development industry,” Pornsanong said.

The MoU was signed at KBZ’s office in Yangon by Pisit Serewiwattana, president of EXIM Thailand, and Maung Maung, vice chairman of Myanmar’s largest commercial bank.

Under the agreement, EXIM Thailand will provide a financial facility of US$4.5 million (Bt146.6 million) to KBZ Bank to support its clients’ purchases of goods and services from Thai entrepreneurs.

Thiha Zaw, founder and chief executive of Next Code, said in an exclusive interview that the company is currently working to bring all private hospitals, clinics, dentists, healthcare services and beauty-care in Myanmar under an umbrella of its application and hospital management system.

“Firstly, we will start with dentists in Yangon. Then we will expand our reach to general practitioners, clinics, hospitals and all healthcare services in major cities throughout the country,” he said.

To date, the company has gathered 50 dental clinics in its application, which was launched on August 1. Thiha Zaw expects to cover all dentists and a large percentage of clinics in Yangon within two months of the launch of their application.

“Our primary goal is to save a lot of time for patients and medical practitioners. Now we can see a large crowd of patients in a long queue waiting for some specialists at many private hospitals and clinics. Our app will help them save time and energy, as they will know exactly which specialists are currently at the particular hospital, and who will arrive when, etc,” he said.

“Now we usually take time to go to as many hospitals and clinics as we can. We try to ensure we have some time to explain to the owners and medical practitioners about our application and hospital management system, and usually convince them to cooperate with us for the convenience of patients and themselves.”

By the end of this year, Thiha Zaw aims to bring together more than 100 clinics under the platform and around 500 bookings every day. He also expects their hospital management system to be tapped by many clinics in Yangon.

According to statistics, there are nearly 300 private hospitals and more than 3,000 clinics registered in Myanmar, most of which are located in the Yangon region and big cities. Currently, Next Code’s products and solutions are being used in more than 50 hospitals, clinics, and laboratories including big names such as Sakura Hospital, Zaw Hospital, Kwekabaw Hospital, Khin Myat Noe Clinic, and Shwe Bhone Diagnostic Excellent Centre.

“Yangon is obviously our priority focus, as it is the commercial hub with a lot of private hospitals and clinics. Then we will expand to Mandalay and other big cities. In rural areas, there is a good balance between demand and supply – patients there do not need to wait for a long time to get medical treatment from doctors and dentists,” he said.

He plans to cover all private hospitals and clinics in Myanmar’s cities over the next two years. After that, the company aims to introduce the concept of telemedicine under which medical practitioners can easily follow up on their patients’ health condition and in turn the patients can seek further treatment from the doctors without the need to go to their clinics.

According to Thiha Zaw, such a practice will mainly benefit patients living in rural areas where modernised medical services are not available, and thereby could reduce transaction costs to a large extent.

For their expansion plan to be successful, all the five team members of Next Code have studied the behaviour of the owners, medical practitioners and patients since they started working on the platform last year with the support of Phandeeyar, Myanmar’s innovative lab for promising start-ups.

“Phandeeyar has committed to provide us with an intensive training, pre-seed funding of US$25,000 [Bt800,000] and some space at their office for us to work together. They also let us participate in the Demo Day event where investors gather to listen to our pitches, targets and success stories. It helps a great deal for our fundraising,” said Thiha Zaw.

He added some local and international businesses are keeping an eye on their performance and track record to invest in the company. Most of them have shown their eagerness to invest in Next Code once they meet their short-term target by the end of this year, he said.

“We also provide software services to hospital, clinics and laboratories. Currently, we have some products to enhance healthcare services including InfoBoard, real time information TV display system at hospitals’ public areas, interactive patient queue system and MyHMS hospital management system,” he said.

“With our solutions, hospitals can ensure better patient care and customer services with the help of the latest technologies. They also support decision-makers to make the right statistical and analysis to improve the overall performance of hospitals and clinics in Myanmar.”

Before he founded the company, Thiha Zaw took a leading role in the establishment of Trion Technologies Co in April 2011, which has now enabled him to acquire seven years of hands-on experience working with local hospitals for their digital transformation efforts.

As the youngest daughter of Prayudh Mahagitsiri, who owns the PM Group of coffee production fame, Ausana had plenty of guidance to steer her youthful enthusiasm.

As her quest to learn about business grew into a passion, she recalls how she asked her mother Suvimol Mahagitsiri to give her Bt80 million to buy a parcel of land in Ploenchit, in central Bangkok. That was 10 years ago and Ausana hasn’t looked back. The acquisition of the land was the first step in bringing her own business idea to life – to build the first condominium project under the brand The Nest, which was developed by The Nest Property Co Ltd.

Ausana, the founder and chief executive officer of The Nest Property, says that the company marked the family’s first venture into the property market. And she recalls with pride that she conducted the business as a separate undertaking from the family business.

Ausana said that, after she graduated with a master’s degree from a business school programme, she joined the family’s business empire. Initially, she worked in its golf course business, before helping her father in other lines of the family’s enterprises.

She had received good grounding with the master’s degree, with the school programme being a collaboration between the Sasin School of Management at Chulalongkorn University and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University in the United States.

It was after this initial period of working in the family businesses that she decided to make the request for the Bt80 million from her mother in order to develop her own entrepreneurial skills.

“After those years of working with the family businesses, I tried to find what I really wanted to do,” Ausana says. “I knew I liked the world of design and architecture, and I also wanted to be a property developer.

“With those thoughts in my minds, I saw a plot of land in Ploenchit for sale, so that was when I decided to borrow the money from my mother to buy the land and develop the condominium project under the brand The Nest Ploenchit.”

Ausana’s first foray into the property market a decade ago was met with success; all the units were sold after the launch of the condominium.

That presented her with the challenge of replicating this success in the residential projects to follow. But she went on to develop residential projects worth more than Bt2 billion a year.

“From my mother’s funding of Bt80 million 10 years ago, we did not need to go into additional money from the money to carry out the expansion of my property business,” Ausana says.

“That was because the success from the sales of the first residential project provided more returns to enable the expansion of the business, which was achieved with an average of two projects a year, generating the average revenue of Bt2 billion a year.”

From that breakthrough in the property business, Ausana says the key to her success is the professionalism of her experienced staff, who would always come up with suggestions for the best ways to tackle an issue and improve the business.

She also learnt quickly what customers want and would have productive discussions with her architecture and interior design teams on providing the details that appeal to buyers of her condominiums.

“I have bought units in all the condominiums developed by my company, sometimes one or two units in each, because I have faith in my projects,” Ausana says. “This stems from my belief that all of my condominium projects are of high quality and the best designs, and that’s why I have added some of the units to my portfolio.”

After laying down firm foundations for the property business that she owns, Ausana has been in a position to help her family manage other businesses within the family’s stable. She is now a director of 28 firms that are owned by the family. She has taken on the full management of two of these companies – the Pizza Hut restaurant chain and transport operator Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc.

“Usually, I have meetings to attend regarding all the businesses for which I am a director, but I have made a decision to make a priority in commitments to two businesses – my property business and the Pizza Hut operation,” Ausana says.

“For Thoresen Thai Agencies, I will join in the meetings and help my older brother to consider solutions that will help the operation of the company.”

Ausana, 37, says she considers herself very lucky that she has had so much support from her family in helping her to bring her business ambitions to fruition. She credits her parents with always being on hand to offer advice and guidance.

She can call on the family brains trust – made up of her father, mother and elder sister and brother – to help her navigate the right path when key business decisions have to be made.

“When I started out in my own business, I was afraid to made the wrong decision, especially since it was a business that that I was carrying out on my own,” she says.

“However, within 10 years of being in the property business, I think I do the right thing more often than I make a wrong move. I think I can take as proof of this that my mother no longer asks me for details of how the business is going.

“Also, I do not need any more financial support from my family, beyond the initial funding of Bt80 million extended by my mother 10 years ago.”

When she looks back her on her start, Ausana she believes her youth gave her an advantage. She was eager to learn the ropes from her family and was always open minded about also taking advice from her employees and making use of the bright ideas they would offer.

This attitude meant she was happy to work away on her own and act on advice as needed, and to also contribute to the other businesses within the family stable.

An example of this came when her family took over a major stake from Yum Restaurants for the management of the Pizza Hut chain in Thailand last year.

Ausana’s family assigned her to manage this business. As with the property business, she brought her with an open-minded spirit that saw her quickly learn from the employees about the on-the-ground situation of the business. She made it clear to them that she is open to new ideas about improving the business.

This attitude helped to build up an in in-depth knowledge of the business and guide her in making the right decisions to enable its expansion. For the property sector, Ausana says she operates the business under a mindset governed by a passion for design and a commitment to the highest standards in construction for residential buildings.

She also relies on the experience of her employees in delivering projects to the market that meet the demands of buyers.

“For me, I think about what kind of building I would like to stay in, and that means it must have quality, function and design to match my own standards and those of the customers,” she says.

“When I am working I love to solve problems that may arise. It makes me happy when I have come up with a solution,” she says.

“I also am lucky to have my family and my employees to support me in how I conduct the business, even as I take on more duties with the responsibilities from my roles in the other family businesses.”

Although Ausana has to work hard in her own business and the other family-run operations, she still ensures she finds time for family activities with her two children at the weekends.

“I am very lucky that my family, husband and kids all understand about my work and we also have the happiest times together. I can work and spend time with my family as I know that both these facets of my life are essential to me,” she says.

The new Stiebel Eltron Service Centre will help the company to provide better assistance to its Phuket and southern customers, one of its strongest regions outside Bangkok, said Roland Hoehn, managing director of Stiebel Eltron Asia.

“We are pleased to have officially opened our new Service Centre in Phuket. We have been very encouraged by the strong growth in the south, especially in Phuket. This service centre will help us further assist our customers swiftly and efficiently. We look forward to continuing to offer the best in service standards to all of our customers in this dynamic part of Thailand,” Hoehn said.

WHAUP CEO Wisate Chungwatana and CFO Paopitaya Smutrakalin said the company also plans to continuously develop utility projects in Vietnam and the Solar Rooftop both inside and outside of WHA Group’s industrial estates continuity under the drive of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).

Jakgrich Pibulpairoj, president of EGCO, said the company achieved its target of Bt17.8 billion in net profit in the first six months, an increase of Bt11.31 billion or 174 per cent from the same period last year.

In the second-quarter, the company posted Bt2.36 billion in net loss, a decrease of Bt5.89 billion or 167 per cent form the previous year, mainly due to foreign exchange loss.

EGCO’s board of directors also approved an interim dividend payment for the first half of Bt3.50 per share and a special dividend payment of Bt2.50 per share, totalling Bt6 per share, to be paid on September 14.

Currently, the company has three overseas power projects under construction with a combined capacity of 544 MW -“Xayaburi” and “Nam Theun 1” in Laos and “San Buenaventura” in the Philippines, scheduled to start commercial operations in 2019 and 2022.

For business direction in the second half of 2018, “EGCO will stay committed to sustainable growth and to generate steady and good return for the shareholders,” Jakgrich said.

In seeking investment opportunities, the company will keep its focus on power business, its core expertise, especially in countries where the company has a strong presence.

The group will also target asset acquisition in parallel with its Greenfield project development in Asia Pacific countries. For domestic investment, the group is well prepared for opportunities arising from the government’s policy and the Thailand Power Development Plan (PDP) which would be revised”, said Jakgrich.

In the first half year of 2018, it was well recognised for its business and financial strength among various agencies.

It was among 100 listed companies ranked by Thaipat Institute in its ESG100 list for the fourth year in a row for its contributions to the environment, society as well as corporate governance

EGCO has been selected by the Stock Exchange of Thailand to be one of the 45 stocks in the “SET |THSI Index”, as a listed company which runs its businesses sustainably.

It has also been ranked among the 2,000 largest publicly-listed companies in the world by Forbes Global 2000 in 2018, based on collective sales, profit, assets and market value.

The launch of Fruita marks an expansion of Fruita Natural’s product range. The company aims to reach a production capacity of eight million bottles a month by the end of this year for the product.

The launch is backed by a campaign, Fruita You Are Real, that is taking place in 12 countries in the Asia Pacific region. Celebrity Peck Palitchoke has been hired as a presenter.

The company said he would create a marketing platform to promote Thai agricultural products to be the international market. Fruita Natural is expanding its production capacity to keep up with the sales orders, for both the domestic and overseas markets, to reach eight million bottles a month by the end of 2018.

Rakchai Rengsomboon, executive director of Fruita Natural, said the company is a manufacturer, exporter and supplier of innovative beverages made from natural ingredients. The company produces different types of fruit juice for export to countries such as China, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, the United States as well as those Europe.

“Fruita brand is a 100-per cent fruit smoothie drink and has been selling to both domestic and international markets during the past two years which received a favourable response,” Rakchai said.

“The company has won the award Discover Innovation Award: Gulfood 2018 and Tops Visitor Choice Award: Gulfood 2017 from the largest food and beverage exhibition of the year.”

“Fruita moved forward to do marketing and create the brand fully in Asia Pacific market because there were opportunities such as the healthy trends and the fact that consumers tend to choose what is best for their health.

“Moreover, Fruita believes that the brand Fruita is in the new segment because there has never been any brand doing 100-per cent fruit smoothie drink in this manner both in Thailand and abroad.”

“Fruita is likely to meet the needs of consumers who are looking for exotic taste and health benefits at the same time. The brand will do the marketing in the way of co-campaign under concept Fruita: You Are Real.”