Cif will be introduced this month along with “Cif Cream” – a multipurpose cleaner that helps remove stubborn stains from various small surfaces. Cif is formulated to help tackle tough dirt and stubborn stains such as burn marks, lime scale, grease, and soap residue, the company said. The multipurpose cream can tackle various surfaces in the bathroom and kitchen as well as nearly every kind of household surface to keep them sparkling clean, Unilever said.
With the launch of Cif, Unilever expects to penetrate the multipurpose cleaning products market by targeting urban consumers who tend to have greater purchasing power. Focusing on market channels such as leading supermarkets and online, the “Together We Can Make Bangkok Clean and Shiny” campaign will support the launch and aims to create greater consumer awareness of the Cif brand.
Janunya Maekwattana, homecare director at Unilever Thai Trading Ltd, said: “Cif has been the best-selling abrasive cleaning product in Europe for a long time. As a multipurpose cream, it is able to clean almost every kind of household surface. Unilever is introducing Cif in Thailand for the first time, targeting urban residents 25 years and older, as they tend to pursue convenient, speedy, yet well-off lifestyles. They are most likely to own a condominium or a single home, and both types of accommodations require an effective cleaning solution for every kind of surface.”

The index is the international standard for sustainability indicators for emerging markets in the Energy Sector.
This is the third consecutive year Banpu has secured a high ranking.
The Company also acquired the highest score in Coal and Consumable Fuels Sector, one of five Thai companies in the sector to achieve the listing.
“It is a great honour to have achieved a listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, not only once, but for the third consecutive time. The inclusion reflects our team’s strong commitment to chart a strong course of sustainable and balanced growth,” said Somruedee Chaimongkol, CEO of Banpu Public Company Limited.
According to the DJSI 2016 report, Banpu was selected based on an assessment of the company’s exemplary economic, social and environmental contributions to the Energy Sector.
“For Banpu, sustainability and balanced growth means long-term existence substantiated in our three key pillars including: business performance, people and corporate culture in response to new business challenges.
“Banpu believes that being professional, adaptability, creativity, flexibility and mobility are all fundamental to sustainable growth, striving for the goal to be a leading regional player in the energy industry. These factors allow for this honourable selection,” she said.
“We are determined to be a good citizen in every country where we operate. At the beginning of each new business project, we conduct in-depth studies of the community, social and environmental impacts of our business and develop a plan for the communities to grow and prosper along with us.

With the merger of FamilyMart Co and Uny Group Holdings Co on September 1, the integrated convenience store is now competing as one of the “big three” alongside Seven-Eleven Japan Co, Japan’s largest chain, and Lawson Inc.
FamilyMart, the third largest chain, integrated its business with fourth-ranked Circle K Sunkus Co, operated by Uny. It will have about 18,100 outlets when the Circle K and Sunkus chains are gradually converted into FamilyMart stores by February 2019. This is close to the 19,000 outlets currently operated by the Seven-Eleven chain.
Attention is focused on what actions the three chains will take to ensure survival as they square off in the battlefield.
FamilyMart President Takashi Sawada said that by combining the stores run by the FamilyMart, Circle K and Sunkus chains, “The total number of outlets is the largest in the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas. We will try to make our stores better meet customers’ expectations.” He made the remark in a convenience store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, which had changed its franchise store name from Circle K to FamilyMart.
As a first step, FamilyMart will speed up conversion of franchised stores into its brand name in its business strongholds in metropolitan areas.
Through the management integration, FamilyMart will supply items that proved popular in the three individual chains.
By utilising the expertise of Uny Group, a general merchandise supermarket store chain under the holding company, the FamilyMart chain will increase the variety of its prepared and perishable foods line-ups.
The Lawson chain is lagging in terms of numbers of convenience stores, but it has strengthened business ties with midsize convenience store chains. For example, Lawson has extended capital to Three F Co, which operates stores mainly in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Poplar Co, which operates mainly in the Chugoku region.
Lawson and Three F established a joint venture firm on September 1. They will change the franchise name of about 90 stores in Chiba and Saitama prefectures into Lawson Three F by November.
It remains to be seen whether the Lawson chain will try to expand its business by realigning with other convenience store chains.
Another question is how will the Lawson chain collaborate with Mitsubishi Corp, Lawson’s largest shareholder, to enter the markets of other countries.
Seven-Eleven Japan has seen brisk business results, with sales up to July this year marking year-on-year rises for 48 months in a row. Its bento meals and prepared foods are popular with elderly people and working women.

Giztix, a tech startup, offers competitive pricing and reliable services via the bidding process involving hundreds of transport and logistic service providers.
“Giztix gives importers and exporters a new way of booking shipping service for their cargoes. For example, they don’t need to get a quote by phone from various shipping firms to compare prices as our platform allows a competitive bidding for the service once you input the requirement on your shipping needs. You get the quotes in 24-36 hours from at least 2-3 shipping firms.”
“We have more than 300 registered Thai and foreign shipping firms which have been fully checked on their track record and reliability. Exporters and importers get a full service on price sourcing as well as booking and payment gateway.”
“We guarantee the quality of service plus a basic insurance coverage on cargoes. We will pay transport or shipping firms only after our clients confirm the delivery is completed satisfactorily.”
“We also partner with international delivery service providers such as DHL, Fedex, and TNT. In the Thai market, we’re the first digital platform for freight forwarding and shipping services similar to that of Alibaba in China.”
“In the US, there are also similar digital platforms for transport and logistic service, but none is globally popular like Facebook or Google or Agoda for hotel booking, even though logistics is a fundamental component of international trade.”
“Giztix has already received funding from investors in Singapore and the US to further develop our technical features. A new feature will allow users to instantly book truck services from six wheelers to 18-wheel trailers.”
“Pricing will be transparent like in the airfare business so that customers can compare prices before making a decision.”
“Another new feature is to allow users to check the shipping cost instantly. This will be effective in the next two months. Currently, our staff give you the quote after you leave information on your shipping requirement.”
“For instance, if you want to ship garments to Shanghai, how much it will cost. We will also provide historical data on shipping costs as a reference.”
“Customers also have the freedom to pick the shipping firm but pricing and reliable service are crucial. We also have the review section for users to get more information and feedback from previous users so that competition is not only about pricing, but also the quality of service and customer satisfaction.”
“This feature is similar to that used for the online hotel booking service.”
“We expect a total of 1,000 registered service providers, up from the current 300, over the next 12 months. We will also partner with banks to solicit customers who are importers and exporters. We’ll also focus on e-commerce such as those selling furniture online as we can serve as the shipping gateway for their customers and provide an instant quote on shipping expenses.”
“Previously, we mainly served offline customers for the logistics service.”
“Our business model is to collect membership fees from service providers but we don’t have the commission fees on logistic or shipping charges. However, we levy a surcharge of 2-3 percentage points on customers who benefit from cost savings since our tariffs are based on those charged to forwarders which are usually 10 per cent cheaper.”
“Overall, cost-saving is 5 per cent or more for shippers.”

The new management line-up will support the continuous growth of business and will lay a strong foundation for the future, according to Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, ThaiBev group president and chief executive.

Ueychai Tantha-Obhas, who laid strong spirit business foundation in Thailand and is the prominent leader in spirit commercial markets over the past three decades, will be promoted to the postion of director and senior executive vice president (“SEVP”) and will oversee Thailand’s distribution channels as Chief Route-to-Market.

Sithichai Chaikriangkrai, who has been voted as Thailand’s best chief financial officer for three consecutiv years (2014-2016) and Southeast Asia’s best CFO in 2015, will be promoted as director and SEVP and will continue to oversee ThaiBev’s finances and support the group’s growth as CFO.

Dr. Pisanu Vichiensanth, who pioneered ThaiBev’s beer business, will be promoted to director and SEVP. He will continue to oversee the group’s technology and engineering functions as Chief Technology and Engineering.

The board has also approved the promotions of two executives to drive forwards the growth of the spirit product group and the beer product group. Prapakon Thongtheppairot, who spearheaded Chang beer’s relaunch in 2015, will be promoted to executive vice president and spirit product group CEO. He will succeed Ueychai.

Edmond Neo Kim Soon, who played a key role in the Chang beer’s relaunch in 2015, will be promoted to EVP and beer product group CEO.

Kosit Suksingha will be promoted to EVP and Chief Supply Chain Management. He will also steer the Group’s IT development. Dr. Agapol Na Songkhia will be promoted to EVP and Chief People Officer.

The board has also approved the appointment of Banjong Chintanasiri to SVP Accounting (Deputy CFO-Accounting), while Pramote Hassamontr will be promoted to SVP-Office of Spirit Production.

About 15 tourism, hotel, airline and entertainment operators from Thailand are attending the International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City until tomorrow. They expect to gain more business from the emerging market of Vietnam as well as from other states around Thailand.
Weerawat Swasdibutra, general manager for Vietnam at Thai Airways International, said yesterday that the airline planned to operate direct flights from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport to Danang in central Vietnam by January.
Its sister airline, Thai Smile, will fly daily on behalf of the flag carrier.
THAI operates two daily flights from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City and two daily flights to Hanoi.
Ladawan Pidokunkajorn, domestic manager of Phuket Sealand, the operator of an adventure camp and rafting trips in Phuket, said the company joined the travel expo in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time as it wanted to promote Phuket to the Vietnamese market.
The company will have to negotiate with more than 30 operators in Vietnam during the three-day event.
“Vietnam tourists already know about Bangkok and Pattaya but are still not familiar with Phuket.
“We expect to get more business from Vietnam because more airlines including Thai VietJet plan to operate direct flights from Vietnam to Phuket,” she said.
For the Vietnamese market, it is offering a special Bt4,000 package for three days and two nights excluding the air ticket.
Pawin Pettrakul, public relations and production manager for Alcazar Pattaya, said the transgender show would participate in about 20 overseas travel-trade events per year including the region’s tourism highlight, ITB Asia in Singapore, set to take place next month.
The company is not focusing on sales from trade shows, but rather on maintaining its awareness in international markets, as the show is already popular in Thailand.
“Alcazar receives more than a million customers per year. More than 95 per cent are foreigners. Our key markets in Asia are Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam,” he said.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said 289 international operators and agencies involved in the travel business from 30 countries are participating in this year’s expo.
VNAT said the event was set to strengthen tourism in five countries in the Mekong Subregion – Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.
Vietnam alone welcomed 7.9 million tourists and served 57 million domestic trips last year.
The tourism industry contributes 6.6 per cent of gross domestic product.
In the first eight months of this year, tourist arrivals surged 25 per cent to 6.5 million from the same period last year.
From 2011-15, average growth of international tourists ran at 7.4 per cent per year.