It says it wants to expand its domestic market with 200,000 products on offer, and will deliver products to its customers in three to seven days of an order being placed, free of charge.

Marauy Tangmitrpracha, the executive director of the company – provider of Dohome brand construction materials to dealers – said: “Dohome wants to expand its domestic market to serve the growth in demand for construction materials.”

“Thailand’s construction-materials market is continuing to grow because of the government infrastructure projects, such as rebuilding roads and the building of new roads and railways, stimulated by new residential and commercial projects.”

Dohome expects to be a leading online provider of furniture and home-decoration items in Thailand, serving customers 24 hours a day. This year the company plans to increase the cosmetics and information-technology sectors on the website, and also plans to sell its products outside the country.

“The online market is an opportunity market that has high growth. It will serve customers’ demands,” Marauy said.

Dohome is based in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani. It has expanded its business from that province to other parts of the country and has more than 33 years of experience.

At present, the company |has eight branches – in Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Ratcha-sima, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Rama II in Bangkok, Bang Bua Thong in Nonthaburi, Rangsit Klong 7 in Pathum Thani, |and Chiang Mai. The new online service is known as “the ninth branch”.

Dohome posted Bt17 billion in sales last year.

Srithai already has a plastic-products factory and a melamine-ware factory in Ho Chi Minh City.

A new plastic-products plant in Ho Chi Minh City will be built soon. The company has leased land for its construction.

It also has a plant in Hanoi.

Sanan said the company’s sales in Vietnam were expected to grow by 18 per cent this year. The Srithai group expects total sales growth of 8 per cent.

It set aside an investment budget of Bt900 million this year, of which Bt350 million will be spent on the expansion of the production capacities of plants overseas, and the rest will be spent on product-promotion activities.

In a separate matter, Sanan, who is head of the government’s private-sector team tasked with boosting exports and overseas investment projects, said the team had proposed setting up a Vietnam-Thai commercial centre in Ho Chi Minh City as part of an effort to expand the trade of major Thai companies and small and medium-size enterprises in Vietnam.

Bt10-bn centre

He said at least three Vietnamese investors had shown strong interest in joining Thai companies in setting up the Bt10-billion centre.

His team will act as the mediator for the negotiations between potential Vietnamese and Thai partners.

Srithai says the project needs the government to coordinate with the Vietnamese government to bring it to fruition.

Thai product imports by Vietnam expanded almost twofold to US$8.2 billion (Bt74 billion) in 2015 compared with 2009.

The average growth rate of retail sales in Vietnam has been in double digits over the last five years.

Modern trade accounts for only 18 per cent of the country’s total retail sales, suggesting huge growth potential.

As of December, there were 415 Thai investment projects in Vietnam with registered capital of $7.36 billion. The Kingdom is ranked No 11 in terms of investment in Vietnam.

CP chairman Dhanin Chearavanont yesterday issued a statement outlining the group’s four initiatives. He affirmed a review into the governance practices of CP All and major listed subsidiaries. Independent and internationally respected accounting and law firms would be hired to conduct the deep review.

Meanwhile, a group-level governance reform would be launched with his direct involvement and participation by independent Thai and international governance experts. He also promised more training for directors and senior employees.

The statement followed questions from shareholders of CP All at its annual meeting yesterday about the employment of chief executive officer Korsak Chairasmisak, who holds his post despite being punished for insider trading.

During the meeting, some shareholders urged the board to suspend Korsak for a year.

Umroong Sanphasitvong, who chaired the shareholders’ meeting, said the board of directors resolved to give Korsak a second chance, as the mistake was unintentional. It is CP All’s culture to give the talented a chance, he added.

“The board has spent ample time reviewing this matter and we have thoroughly considered all aspects. We believe that the future of the company matters more,” he said. “We have learned a lesson and we would adhere to governance practices.”

Korsak himself extended an apology to shareholders.

“I have to apologise to all that the punishment affects trust and credibility of the company. But I affirm here that I will adhere to CG [corporate governance] practices and restore public trust,” he said before leaving the meeting prematurely.

Korsak has been a long-time employee of the company, being the driving force behind many success stories of the company that operates more than 8,000 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand.

In the statement, Dhanin said the group did not expect to fix everything at once given the large and complex business structure.

“Through the above initiatives, we aim to install world-class governance infrastructure and provide needed policy and guidelines. But I know that without a change of mindset and behaviour, the target of being best in class when it comes to corporate governance will remain an aspiration only.

“What happened was an important lesson and I am confident that the measures outlined will bring about a serious and meaningful improvement to our organisation. Over time, we aim to establish ourselves as a leader in best governance practices, and in doing so earn the confidence, trust, and acceptance from our stakeholders domestically and overseas.

At the meeting yesterday, CP All unveiled a plan to help strengthen Thai small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2015, it posted a 9.3-per-cent increase in revenue to Bt405.89 billion while net profit rose 34.1 per cent year on year to Bt13.68 billion.

“I prefer Thai goods. I don’t have to worry if they’re contaminated,” Thai import shop customer Hong Anh said here, reflecting the widely held view that Chinese goods are not only low quality but hazardous as well.

Billionaire beer magnate Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is leading the Thai charge into Vietnam through his Thai Charoen Corp (TCC), which has finalised a 655 million euro (Bt26 billion) purchase of German retailer Metro’s Vietnam chain.

TCC subsidiary Berli Jucker is among the bidders for Casino Group’s Big C supermarkets in Vietnam, worth about US$1 billion (Bt35 billion).

“We fully expect Thai companies to continue to view Vietnam in a favourable manner and to continue to invest and grow through M&As,” said John Ditty, managing partner at tax advisory firm KPMG.

“The Thai economy has been somewhat flat,” he said.

Moody’s expects Thailand’s real GDP growth to fall to about 2.5 per cent this year from 2.8 per cent last year in the wake of paralysing anti-government protests and a military coup.

In Vietnam, by contrast, things are looking up. Average incomes have quadrupled during 15 years of economic growth at over 5 per cent.

Retail sales will hit $179 billion by 2020, from less than $110 billion last year, reckons VietinBank Securities.

Action like that is driving M&A deals to record levels. Last year’s $4 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions was the highest ever, boosted by Thai tycoon Santi Bhirombhakdi-linked Singha Asia’s $1.1 billion worth of deals.

Many analysts expect Thai firms to help smash that record in 2016.

Dealmakers say Thais are among those awaiting new offers and drawn-out state divestments, betting on Vietnam’s demographics and hedging against political and economic uncertainty back home.

Charoen is also expected to show interest in a mooted sale of an up to 45-per-cent government stake valued at $3.1 billion in Vietnam Dairy Products JSC, or Vinamilk.

His Fraser and Neave already has an 11-per-cent share in Vietnam’s top listed firm and is tipped to raise that if the government proceeds with the sale.

Big Drinkers

Charoen could be in the mix again if his ThaiBev, maker of Beer Chang, succeeds in tapping into what is Asia’s third-biggest beer market after China and Japan.

ThaiBev has shown interest in $2 billion brewery Sabeco, of which the government will sell 53 per cent.

And rival Singha beer could enter the Vietnam market via the distribution network of consumer goods firm Masan Group, after a $1.1 billion investment by Singha Asia Holdings in December.

Retail giant Central, run by Thailand’s third-richest family, the Chirathivats, is expanding its Robinson Department Store chain and has declared interest in Big C, adding to its $200 million purchase of 49 per cent of electronics retailer Nguyen Kim.

Thai firms won’t have it all their own way, however, as the likes of South Korea’s Lotte, Japan’s Aeon, China’s Parkson and local firms Vingroup and KIDO expand.

But that’s unlikely to deter Thais, said Chokedee Kaewsang, deputy chief of Thailand’s Board of Investment, who expects Thai firms to double or triple their Vietnam presence by 2019.

“They like Thai products, and the Thai brand,” he said of the Vietnamese. What’s more, the communist country’s small-time capitalists are willing partners.

Hanoi businesswoman Bui Thuy Nga deals only in Thai goods and saw her small store quickly transform into a wholesaler with a dozen-page client list.

It feeds a boom in Thai-only stores, which Nga estimates have tripled since 2012, selling anything from shampoo and stationary stationery to plastics and toothpaste.

“Our business struggled at first and we didn’t expect the market could grow that much,” she said.

– Reuters

Banpu CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol said it had acquired a 29.4-per-cent stake in the Chaffee Corners Joint Exploration Agreement (JEA), which runs a low-cost unconventional operation in the northeastern section of the Marcellus shale play in the state of Pennsylvania.

Banpu’s net interest in the Chaffee Corners JEA is equivalent to proven reserves of 156 billion cubic feet of dry natural gas.

It targets net output of 21 million cubic feet per day this year. The gas is sold entirely in the US domestic market, mainly for power generation.

The JEA is 65.4 per cent owned and operated by Talisman, a leading unconventional US-based player, which produces more than 400 million cubic feet per day from the Marcellus play.

The Marcellus play is estimated to hold 85 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and accounts for one-fifth of total US gas production.

Banpu is seeking support from its shareholders for its capital-increase programme. Suffering from a prolonged slump in coal prices, it has diversified into a solar-farm business in Japan. The latest move will help it to expand into natural gas, which plays a part in the coal-price slump, while diversifying its geographical footprint beyond Asia.

Banpu is also eyeing the businesses of energy-supply-chain management and smart energy systems.

“While we will continue to strengthen our conventional energy business, we will also begin to balance this with a greener new energy business,” Somruedee said.

“Our moves into solar photovoltaic power in Japan and now into shale gas in the US are our first steps towards achieving this transformation.

“These investments put Banpu directly into the mainstream of the global energy revolution,” she said.

Midstream, Banpu is evaluating synergies around managing fuel procurement for its own coal-mining operations, with the possibility of developing this into a regional energy-supply-chain management business.

Downstream, it is assessing the potential of a smart energy business. “Smart energy” systems are integrated solutions combining decentralised renewable energy sources.

Banpu conducted thorough due diligence over the past two years on the US shale-gas deal and was confident it was investing in a highly de-risked situation with proven reserves, market maturity, proven technology, favourable government regulations, a strong and experienced operating partner, an expert investment partner and access to an extensive information and talent pool – and strong domestic off-take contracts.

“The timing is good given low oil and gas prices, and we have invested at a very attractive valuation with substantial upside potential,” Somruedee said.

“We are well positioned to take advantage of new deal opportunities – both acquisition and divestment – in what is a very liquid asset market.”