However, profitability could be constrained by intense pricing competition following premium deregulation for non-life-insurance products.

Insurers that protect their business margins by monitoring product risk-reward metrics and developing efficient business operations are more likely to buffer potential volatility from the intense competition, particularly in the motor segment, which has a steadily weakening loss ratio.

Fitch Ratings expects new market players to emerge from possible amalgamations and the regulator’s framework for new product innovations, which could further increase competition.

Newcomers could also promote innovation in products, services and administrative management, which would further reinforce the industry’s business capacity.

Fitch expects Thailand’s non-life-insurance sector, which holds stable and liquid investment assets, to weather any business volatility and meet its obligations.

The sector exhibits consistently solid capitalisation and is likely to maintain capital ratios above the regulatory minimum following the 2019 implementation of the second phase of the risk-based capital framework, according to the Office of Insurance Commission.

Net profit for H1 was Bt115.23 million, up 23.67 per cent from H1 2017.

Chief executive Phoon Chiong Kit said the company had continued to expand its investments in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to maintain business growth this year and next.

The two HKEX-listed ETFs have a total expense ratio of 0.50% and are physically replicated.

Premia Asia Innovative Technology ETF tracks the Premia FactSet Asia Innovative Technology Index, which aims to capture 50 leading Asia-based companies engaged in emerging and disruptive solutions across technology-enabled sectors of digital transformation, healthcare & life sciences, and robotics & automation. These companies are selected for their significant revenue from the FactSet RBICS innovative technology sub-sectors, their growth characteristics and their consistent investment in research and development.

Premia Dow Jones Emerging ASEAN Titans 100 ETF (Tickers: 2810 HK / 9810 HK) tracks the Dow Jones Emerging ASEAN Titans 100 Index, which aims to capture 100 leading companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, based on float-adjusted market capitalisation, revenue and net income characteristics.

“US$2,000 GDP per capital is often considered an important threshold for developing countries entering the consumption stage,” said Rebecca Chua, Managing Partner of Premia Partners.

“Investors are keen to invest in the secular trends that drive such emerging growth economies, as well as technology-enabled growth sectors in Asia, where demographics and population size often power growth of innovative technology applications to a different level by order of magnitude.

“We are excited to work with FactSet and S&P Dow Jones Indices to bring to investors efficient tools to capture such opportunities, through rule-based, systematic approaches that previously were not readily available to public equity investors.”

The Hiroshima-based manufacturer has long been present in Thailand, but only as a small player with 1.8-per cent market share in 1998 coming from sales of just 11,187 units. Mazda was considered a small player in the market behind Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Fast forward 10 years and Mazda has emerged as the No.3 brand in the Thai passenger car market leaving bigger rivals behind, thanks to high-volume models such as the Mazda2 subcompact. The company plans to sell as many as 65,000 vehicles in the Kingdom this year for a market share of 6.5 per cent.

So far this year Mazda has had a tremendous performance, selling 33,593 units from January to June to claim a 6.9-per cent market share, a record for the brand in Thailand.

In 2017, Thailand was also the market with the highest growth for Mazda worldwide at over 30 per cent, and in terms of market share, Thailand’s 6.3 per cent is the second-highest in the world for the company (after Australia with 10 per cent).

Apart from offering products with high technology and premium quality rather than trying to lower cost and compete in the lower segments of each market, Mazda has also given much importance to the local management.

Mazda is one of the few automobile companies in Thailand that is headed by a Thai national, supported by a team of Thai executives.

In July 2016 Chanchai Trakarnudomsuk was appointed as president of Mazda Sales (Thailand) Co Ltd (MST), the Mazda distributorship in Thailand, and a new management restructuring took place soon afterwards. Thai executives at Mazda were promoted to lead all departments ranging from corporate planning, accounting and finance, sales, marketing, after sales, logistics and spare parts, leaving only one Japanese executive at the management level.

Meanwhile, production of several important Mazda models has been relocated from Japan to other production bases including Thailand, which is the first integrated Mazda production centre outside of Japan. Thailand is now capable of producing engines and transmissions apart from carrying out assembly of the Mazda2, Mazda CX-3 and Mazda BT-50 PRO at the AutoAlliance Thailand plant in Rayong. It has also started production at the Mazda Powertrain Manufacturing Thailand (MPMT) plant for auto parts, body structures, engines and transmissions and earlier this year raised production figures further.

Chanchai, who was previously senior vice president at AAT in charge of production and quality control before moving to MST, told The Nation Weekend in an exclusive interview that he never expected to be in this position.

He was approached by former AAT boss Yuji Nakamine, presently senior managing executive officer at Mazda Motor Corp in Hiroshima, for the new job.

“I worked with Nakamine-san for four years at AAT and at first, I doubted that he could handle the job because he did not come from the production field and was more involved with corporate work,” Chanchai said. “I wondered how he can do it, but after working with him, I found that he understands people and human nature, and is also a great negotiator and speaker. He helped the AAT team to grow significantly.”

Nakamine returned to Hiroshima after his term and was responsible for sales, allowing him to maintain communication with Chanchai at the AAT plant.

“One day he asked me whether I wanted to change roles,” Chanchai recalled. “I was shocked and I asked him why?”

Nakamine told him that in Thailand, most of Mazda dealers are Chinese-Thais and communicating is a problem.

“The communication was not smooth and the idea was to have a Thai leadership. But we didn’t have a suitable Thai executive at MST for the position at that moment,” Chanchai added. “So I said that I’ll try.”

It was indeed a try, as Chanchai was still employed by AAT and was transferred to MST. “I thought that if after a year it didn’t work, I would go back to AAT.”

All-new language

During his first year at MST, Chanchai had to learn virtually everything as he had no sales or marketing knowledge.

“I was dumbfounded and I didn’t know what to do, but the team helped me out significantly. What I found out was that dealers are not like suppliers. With suppliers, you just place the order and get the prices you want. But with dealers, you need to beg them to sell the cars for you,” he said.

One of his biggest missions at MST was to reorganise the Mazda dealership in Thailand, setting one standard across the country with the new Mazda Corporate Identity (MCI) concept.

“The problem was that our dealers didn’t make much profit, so they didn’t want to invest in showroom improvements,” he said. “We had to adjust the margins so dealers were profitable as well as making sure they make enough money from servicing because new cars carry low profits.”

A proposal was made to the headquarters and, after the green light for the new margins was given, the dealers soon saw the investments bearing fruit. “Some dealers that used to sell 30-40 cars per month are now selling 60, 80 and 100 per month. Some go as far as 400 units per month,” Chanchai said.

The numbers of Mazda showrooms and service centres have also been growing steadily in harmony with rising sales. Before the end of this year there will be new Mazda showrooms by the Phra Nakorn Automobile (PNA) group as well as Benz Ramkhamhaeng Group, Chanchai added.

“Our goal is to have showrooms covering all sales areas and provinces with high potential. Presently, we still don’t have enough, for example in Nakhon Ratchasima, where we are negotiating with local investors to have more outlets,” he said.

At MST, Chanchai has been laying down the same principles as AAT, which is “top executives in every position must have a successor, and the same thing must happen at the next level too.”

Company executives are also rotated to different positions to create all-round capability. “I try to prove to the headquarters what our Thai executives can do, as well as explaining to them what is unique about the Thai market,” said the 53-year-old executive.

“We came the right way and the results have confirmed that,” Chanchai stressed. ”We don’t have just good products but we are also good sellers.”

In the longer term, Mazda wants to achieve a market share of 8 per cent in Thailand by 2021. New products to be launched before that include the Mazda3 next year, the CX-3 (and CX-8) in 2019 and the Mazda2, its best-selling model here.

Fitch Ratings Thailand Limited has assigned Thai Beverage Public Company Limited’s (ThaiBev, BBB-/AA(tha)/stable) new senior unsecured debentures amounting to Bt70 billion a national long-term rating of “AA(tha)”.

The debentures are in five tranches with two- to 10-year tenures. Proceeds will be used to refinance existing bridging facilities.

The debentures are rated at the same level as ThaiBev’s national long-term rating as they constitute its direct, unsecured, unconditional and unsubordinated obligations.

Aside from Thailand, the new co-working space centres will be opened in India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Five of the new centres are planned for Bangkok, with investment of US$3 million to US$5 million each. Each centre will provide more than 4,000 square metres. As many as 40 centres will be opened in China, Wan Sing said.

The company expects its co-working and office space to reach 250,000 square metres in the 13 countries and territories by 2020, he said.

Currently, the company has eight co-working space centres and five serviced offices in Singapore, as well as two sites in Bangkok, and will open a third site in Bangkok, at Samyan Mitr Town, next year. The company has three locations in Jakarta and two in Shanghai. Combined, they provide co-working and office space of 70,000 square metres, with occupancy rates of more than 70 per cent.

“We cannot fix an exact amount for our investment but it will be more than US$100 million,” Wan Sing said. “We gained funds from our major shareholders, Frasers Property and GIC, worth US$177 million early this year and that will be enough for our business expansion at this time.

“However, if we need to increase our budget for business expansion, we believe that our shareholders will be willing to pay for such expansion.”

Aside from Frasers Property and GiC, JustCo’s other significant shareholders include developer Sansiri Plc, among others.

In Thailand, JustCo set up a joint venture firm with Ticon Industrial Connection Plc, with Ticon holding 51 per cent of JustCo Thailand Co Ltd and JustCo the remainder.

Wan Sing said that demand for co-working space will see strong growth, based on a change in people’s preferences for co-working space over the traditional model for rented office space. This is because the environment surrounding co-working spaces creates a kind of community and serves as an inspiration for startups, entrepreneurs, and owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

In Singapore, co-working spaces have grown to account for about 5 per cent of the total office market, rising from just 1 per cent two years ago. The segment is enjoying growth of up to 9 per cent a year, Wan Sing said.

In Thailand, co-working spaces make up about 1 per cent of the total office space. Total office space in Bangkok covers about 8 million square metres.

The company forecasts that co-working spaces will make up about 5 per cent of the total office market in 2020, Wan Sing said.

Currently, the company manages 9,200 square metres of co-working space in Bangkok – at AIA Sathorn Tower and at Capital Tower. With the opening of its premises in Samyan Mitr Town next year, that will increase to 17,200 square metres in the capital. The company expects its co-working spaces in Bangkok will reach 30,000 square metres in 2020, Wan Sing said.

“When we expand our investment to open co-working space that needs an occupancy rate of about 60 per cent, that will generate income to cover our investment within four years,” Wan Sing said. “This presents an opportunity for our business expansion.”

“Now we cover nearly 70 different locations in Yangon, and have plans to expand to Mandalay over the next few months,” Htet Aung Latt said in an exclusive interview. “We will try to reach everywhere in Myanmar over time.”

The firm has partnered with 45 local and international companies in Myanmar, with more than over 60 per cent of them operating gyms and fitness centres in Yangon. Its partners include luxury hotels such as Mercure and Chatrium, as well as yoga studios, Htet Aung Latt said.

“Our aim is to offer an extensive fitness platform for people’s convenience. As urbanisation gathers pace in Yangon, people move around a lot. We believe they will prefer a pass that can be used everywhere they go, rather than a permanent membership at a single gym or fitness centre.”

He said the pass would provide access to users at savings of up to 40 per cent of the standard walk-in prices at partner gyms and fitness activities. People can participate in a wide variety of fitness categories including boxing, swimming, rock climbing, yoga, indoor skydiving, spa, and other wellness and health services, as well as attend more than 100 types of fitness classes.

Htet Aung Latt came up with the business idea when he was accepted into the Founder Institute, the world’s premier pre-seed startup accelerator programme, and became one of the 24 finalists. After being mentored by industry professionals for 14 weeks, he received positive feedback on Flexible Pass from entrepreneurs in Myanmar. Soon after the official launch in June last year, the firm has been enjoying growth of almost 20 per cent on a monthly basis, he said.

“We have nearly 50,000 followers on Facebook and thousands of visitors on our website. Our mobile application has been downloaded on to 4,000 mobile phones through iOS and Google Playstore,” he said.

Unlike other with applications in Myanmar, 40 per cent of the app users are iPhone users, while the remainder have Android phones. This is much higher than the industry average of over 80 per cent of users on the Android platform, Htet Aung Latt said.

The firm managed to secure over 5,000 bookings within a year. He expects to reach 100,000 bookings by the end of this year. Htet Aung Latt aims to triple the number of users over the next two months.

“We are now upgrading our app, and will come up with a better design by the end of this month. We will also update all our digital platforms, including the website, in the coming months,” he said.

Htet Aung Latt allows himself some pride in the international recognition for the efforts of his team of eight people. Last year, the firm had a chance to represent the country in the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme in Berlin, Germany. It won the startup of the year and the best healthy lifestyle tech startup in the Myanmar Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2017 and was among the nominees in Asean Rice Bowl Awards 2017. In June, the firm became one of the 20 startups selected by Pitch@Palace Asean held in Singapore in front of Britain’s Duke of York.

Htet Aung Latt said the pass can be bought through several payment options – cash, bank transfer to the firm’s KBZ, CB and AYA bank accounts, electronic payments such as Visa, MasterCard and MPU, mobile financial services including Wave Money, and 24-hour convenience stores such as Grab & Go and abc.

The company offers three packages: US$30, $50 and $100, which are valid for six months from the date of the first usage. The pass can also be bought in kyat, based on the current forex rate.

The company has recently teamed up with Laem Chareon Seafood to expand the food business to China. The plan also includes an expansion to the food, dessert, and beverage business in Thailand with a 10-year entitlement of the sole service right from Dean & Deluca.

Suppachak Trairatanobhas, NPPG executive chairman, said the company aimed to build Thai restaurant chains in Thailand and China through franchising.

The first restaurant, to be launched in Shanghai in the fourth quarter of this year, is planned to support its expansion in the Chinese market. Other branches are planned n Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenzhen.

The entry into the food business in China will strengthen the company’s business as it has formed partnerships with a leading food business operator as well as a logistics provider in China.

Suppachak added that NPPG had attracted a leading food brand, Laem Chareon Seafood, as a partner.

Laem Chareon Seafood was an outstanding Thai seafood restaurant with unique taste, quality, and services. In addition, there have been many leading restaurant brands showing their interest in joining NPPG.

China is a huge market with a populations of 1.4 billion, and an annual food market growth of up to 30 per cent. The consumer behaviour of eating out is one of the crucial factors supporting continuous expansion of the food business and the franchise model in the future.

In addition, the company plans to aggressively expand the food and beverage businesses in Thailand by focusing on variation of services.

Recently, NPPG has received a 10-year sole right to provide service in Thailand from Dean & Deluca, the food, dessert, and beverage service company.

The company has planned to expand more Dean & Deluca branches in the future.