Supamas Isarabhakdi, managing director of DOD, said consumers could be confident with the standard and safety of the products.

Supamas said the capital raised would partly be used for investment in a raw material extract plant to develop components for dietary supplement manufacturing.

“The choice of our new company name originates from the way light has become an intelligent language, which connects and conveys meaning,” said Eric Rondolat, CEO of Signify. “It is a clear expression of our strategic vision and purpose to unlock the extraordinary potential of light for brighter lives and a better world.”

The company expects the name change to be implemented by the end of the year.

Founded as Philips in Eindhoven in the Netherlands, 127 years ago, in 2016 the lighting firm spun off from Philips, becoming a separate company, listed on Amsterdam’s Euronext Stock Exchange.

With operations in more than 70 countries and 32,000 staff worldwide, the firm said it generated sales of €7 billion in 2017.

“We are driven by the principle that light is essential,” Rondolat added. “And by connecting it to networks, software and cloud computing, we open the door to a smarter world where light delivers value beyond illumination.”

The race is divided in two. There is the virtual run where distance logs are captured online for 90 days and the field run in Suan Phueng district, Ratchaburi province, this November. The total of distance gained by all runners will be converted into donations for the Thais with Disabilities Foundation.

Bryan Smith, CEO of Allianz Ayudhya Assurance PCL, said the Allianz Group, a major shareholder in Allianz Ayudhya, has been holding Allianz World Run for many years to encourage staff globally to take a better care of their health through running as well as help support underprivileged communities.

In 2017, the firm’s staff ran for a total of 1.3m kilometres, which was converted into Bt20 million in donations for children’s foundations.

Recently launched shops include international brand COS, the Croquant Chou Zakuzaku dessert shop from Japan for its first launch in Thailand, and brands Onitsuka Tiger and Lyn with their biggest concept stores in Southeast Asian.

Siam Piwat has a history of offering SMEs the opportunity to launch their brands in a promising location for the retail industry.

“Siam Piwat has a steady, strong stance thanks to its main strategy as ‘The Icon of Innovative Lifestyle’,” said Mayuree Chaipromprasith, senior executive vice president to Siam Piwat Co Ltd.

“We focus on offering new concepts to develop new projects, retail businesses and a variety of cutting-edge lifestyle concepts that never before existed in Thailand, or even for the first time in the world – which bring to life our commitment to functional design and quality.”

Bangkok Bank credit card chief Shoke Na Ranong said the bank has partnered with Chevron (Thailand) Limited, the marketer of the Caltex brand, to develop the fleet card. The card will enable firms to manage fuel expenses more efficiently as they will be provided with electronic invoices, daily and monthly fuel expense details and tax invoices.

Employers using this fleet card can set limits for either the spending value or litres of fuel per day or month and the mileage system can be used to calculate the fuel consumption rate.

The fleet card will specify the corporate name, licence plate, car make, the type of fuel permitted and gas stations where the card can be used. With these features, businesses can control and manage costs more efficiently.

The credit term is for up to 55 days and the enhanced flexibility will allow a business to select its preferred date in the billing cycle to correspond with the company’s accounting system.

This will enable better cash flow, improved liquidity and more efficient business management.

Bangkok Bank also introduced its new cash card, a prepaid card for tank filling and other engine products at Caltex stations nationwide, to control monthly expenses.

The bank said organisations and businesses can give this as a gift card to customers and specify the name of the company and place a message or logo on the back of the card.

“Bangkok Bank has been cooperating with Caltex stations for joint-marketing for a long time, especially in developing promotions for Bangkok Bank credit card users, and this collaboration will further support the needs of Bangkok Bank customers. Corporate customers will have more ways to manage their fuel costs efficiently and have better cash flow,” said Shoke.

Salman Saadat, Chevron’s manager in Thailand said the collaboration would complement both businesses as it combines strength, potential and business expertise to better facilitate business operators, retailers and corporate clients while fulfilling their needs and catering to their demanding lifestyles.

New product launches will help enhance customer experience and provide privileges and payments can also be made via QR codes on EDC, a convenient new option for fuel payment.

Saadat said: “Chevron is committed to developing strategies to serve the needs of current customers, adjust to changing needs and be a one-stop service station with a priority concern for safety, in line with the Fuel Service Station Control Act.

“Chevron expects that the introduction of QR code payments on EDC will provide greater convenience to customers and shorten service time. The company is prepared to offer the QR code payments upon regulatory approval of mobile phone usage at the fuel service point,” added Saadat.

Turnover of its high-quality 100-per-cent jasmine rice last year was 250,000 tonnes, a 15-per-cent increase over 2016.

From current production capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year, the company expects sales of 400,000 tonnes per year in the next five years.

For health-conscious consumers, the company recently launched Zuper Rice, with six times more anthocynanin than is found in typical brown rice.

In the third quarter, the company will launch a new fluffy and tender rice at a reasonable price in a market worth Bt50 billion.

Proactive marketing, brand strengthening, engagement with consumers and honesty are the hallmarks at Hong Thong, whose motto is “Quality, fair price, serve honestly”.

“We started out trading milled rice and then expanded to overseas markets,” said Vallop Manathanya, chairman of Bangsue Chia Meng Rice Mill Co Ltd (BSCM).

“Our philosophy is to maintain high quality, keep our promises and conduct our business honestly. This mindset has encouraged business growth for 80 years and that will continue in the future too.

“Other very important factors behind our success are taking good care of our upstream and downstream partners – the suppliers, customers, farmers, mills, financial institutions, packaging manufacturers – and our international distributors in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, Japan, etc, as well as great support from the sector.”

Though sales volume rose in 2017, sales value declined slightly because of a drop in the market value of rice, Vallop said.

Hong Thong, the company’s own brand, accounted for more than 85 per cent of total sales volume. Overall, 95 per cent of sales were in jasmine rice and the rest in the company’s three other brands.

Since most sales were generated from the company’s own brand, it ensured a high degree of stability.

“In the next five years, the company projects export volume at 400,000 tonnes, or 10 per cent growth per annum, with the targeted export value between Bt9 billion and Bt10 billion,” Vallop said.

“At our rice mills in Nonthaburi, Si Saket, Roi Et and Suphanburi, which are points of purchase, and our production plants for white rice and fragrant rice, our total production capacity has reached 300,000 tonnes per year.”

TrueVisions platinum and gold members will be able to watch all 64 matches in the highest-possible resolution.

The World Cup in Russia will be the first content broadcast via the 4K Ultra HD system, which is four times clearer than HD and 20 times clearer than the existing standard system.

Subscribers with any package will be able to watch the World Cup on TrueSport HD3 (Channel 668) 24 hours a day. In the event of live coverage of multiple matches at the same time, TrueSport HD2 will also be broadcasting.

Those with platinum and gold packages can register now for a 4K Ultra HD box, the installation fee for which is Bt2,000, discounted from the normal Bt9,500.

“Television technologies have developed immensely,” marketing director Sueksith Cholasuek noted, “and TrueVisions never stops developing new technologies and enhance broadcast quality. With 4K Ultra HD, World Cup viewers will be able to watch in the highest resolution football’s superstars on 32 teams such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Mohammed Salah, Antoine Griezmann and Eden Hazard. The opening match between Russia and Saudi Arabia is on June 14 at 10pm Thailand time.

E-commerce in the Asia-PAcific region (APAC) is thriving, with 71 per cent of consumers having made online purchases, but the risk of online fraud for consumers is rocketing.

Results from Experian’s Digital Consumer Insights 2018 report show that the demand for online convenience is linked to a heightened threat of fraud, with one in five consumers having already fallen victim

The report, published by Experian and co-authored with advisory firm IDC, is based on a consumer survey across ten APAC markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The study delves into how well businesses mitigate fraud risk through the eyes of their customers.

It found that as brands and consumers look for ever-easier ways to buy and sell products online and via mobile devices — with electronics, travel and groceries being the most popular — the opportunity for online fraud is escalating.

The report also found that while consumers in Thailand are the most willing to adopt biometrics for non-commercial purposes, they also have the highest error rate in the submission of personal data.

SHOW FOCUSES ON CORRUGATED PACKAGING

A group of industry associations and a Thai government body has announced the 2nd edition of the CCE South East Asia – Thailand 2018 trade show, highlighting the Thai Corrugated Packaging industry.

The event will run concurrently with ICE South East Asia from September 5-7 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC), Bangna, and will highlight the latest machines and equipment from leading manufacturers throughout Asean, offering a showcase of direct-to-user solutions.

The four organisations comprising the CCE South East Asia partnership are the Thai Corrugated Packaging Association; the Thai Pulp and Paper Industries Association; the Thai Screen Printing & Graphic Imaging Association; and the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB).

The organisers said the CCE – ICE 2018 event is part of the group’s broader aim to expand manufacturing capabilities and drive sustainable growth in the Thai Corrugated Packaging Manufacturing industry, in line with the government’s Thailand 4.0 digital-era development plan.

According to Kanokwara Anutarawatr, senior manager of Mack Brooks Exhibitions Asia, “Nowadays, corrugated packaging industries in Asean countries must be able to meet growing local demand and rising customer numbers.

“With a combined population of 620 million, most of working age, Asean countries have experienced a steady rise in consumer demand. This is a key factor driving national economic growth levels in the region, which has led to expansion of the consumer goods and packaging markets and recent innovations in the corrugated packaging industry.”

SCB JOINS FASTWORK TO SERVE SME NEEDS

Siam Commercial Bank has teamed up with Fastwork Technologies Co Ltd, the largest online freelancing platform in Thailand, to expand the network of partners providing digital solution services and enhance the competence of small- and medium-size enterprise (SME) clients, connecting 7,000 freelancers from all professions to serve the comprehensive business needs of its SME customers.

With the effort, SME clients can use the services of professional freelancers at competitive prices. SCB and Fastwork recently held a “Decode SME Business with Freelance Solution” seminar and an exhibition demonstrating the achievements of freelancers under the Fastwork community to inform SMEs, so they can opt for the services meeting their needs.

Thawatvongse Silamanonda, country manager of PCCW OTT (Thailand), which operates the over-the-top (OTT) video service, said that under the collaboration with GMM Grammy, the firm will select premium content from GMM 25 of as much as 200 hours for users who access its digital content via the Viu application.

“I think that the collaboration will help us to expand our customers base and target segment. The service will utilise new technology to bring out the expanded content offerings,” Thawatvongse said.

He said that the firm now provides up to 10,000 hours of Korean dramas via Viu’s OTT video services. It also provides Japanese and Hong Kong content to support the needs of its viewers. GMM Grammy is its first partner in the country.

“Thailand is an important market for us and we have a spent a long time to prepare a social media platform to support Thailand, where people love content and entertainment,” said Helen Sou, senior vice president of digital media at PCCW Media Group. “Thailand is also a fast-growing market. The firm targets to get break even with this service in the next few years.”

The company has achieved around 2.3 million downloads, with 70 per cent of them done by women.

It also has around a million active viewers in Thailand. Viewers spend around 1.2 hours to 1.8 hours a day looking at content via the Viu application. The collaboration will drive its business growth in the country and create opportunities to provide more variety in digital content to its customers, Sou said. The firm had more than 16 million active users in the region by the end of 2017.

Boosaba Dao-Rueng, group executive officer of GMM Grammy, said that the collaboration will help the company to achieve its business goals. All Viu users in Thailand can enjoy premium digital content from GMM 25, Boosaba said.

“Meanwhile, premium users can enjoy enhanced features including ad-free content, availability in full HD 1080p video quality and the option to download to view later,” Boosaba said.

“The firm expects that it will capture the rising demand from OTT users both with its GMM 25 digital TV channel and through the Viu platform.”