ADVANCED INFO Service (AIS) has agreed to settle the arbitration dispute over ownership of 13,198 telecom towers with TOT by agreeing to hand over all these towers to the state agency, TOT acting president Montchai Noosong said.

He added that AIS had also proposed to rent all these towers and 900MHz cellular base stations from TOT for 15 years. AIS will pay a rental fee of Bt5.6 billion per year during the first five years, and Bt3.6 billion per year during the remaining period.

AIS has also proposed to pay rental fee for two years on behalf of TOT for the land plots on which these telecom towers are located, Montchai said.

During the AIS cellular service offering under the TOT concession, AIS had paid the land plot rent to the land owners directly.

However, TOT has yet to finish drafting contracts with AIS on all these rental fees, as it wants to consider similar network rental fee proposals from Jasmine International and True Corp.

Montchai said that JAS |had approached TOT to lease these telecom towers from the state agency.

True has approached TOT to lease the state agency’s cellular base stations. Both JAS and True won a 900MHz licence each in an auction held by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission last month.

AIS was the former TOT concession holder. Both have engaged in arbitration dispute over ownership of the 13,198 towers under the concession.

Montchai added that TOT has sent a draft of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a 3G-service partnership between AIS and TOT to the Office of the Attorney-General for consideration and was yet to get it back.

Under the MoU, AIS will build 10,000 of the 2.1GHz cellular base stations for TOT and will buy 80 per cent of bandwidth capacity of this spectrum for 10 years to provide the service. TOT will gain net revenue of Bt3.9 billion per year from this partnership.

AIS is keen to be TOT’s partner to provide 3G service on the state agency’s 2.1GHz spectrum.

AIS won the 1800MHz licence in the NBTC’s auction last November but failed to clinch the 900MHz licence in the auction last month. AIS currently offers wireless broadband service on the 2.1GHz spectrum.

It will officially launch its 4G service on 1800MHz tomorrow.

SVI chief executive officer Pongsak Lothongkam said the acquisition would equip the company with a very strong base in Austria and Eastern Europe from where to serve its customers. The contract-manufacturing industry has been in a period of major change in the region, with competition intensifying over the provision of services at an optimum cost.

Without production sites in Asia and Eastern Europe, contract manufacturers serving Europe are no longer competitive. European product design and manufacturing know-how complements Asian strengths in the global supply chain and mass production.

“For SVI, Europe has long been our biggest market, but one we’ve served without a European production facility, which our customers have been recently asking us to add to our global footprint,” Pongsak said.

With the acquisition, Pongsak said SVI would be able to access the European markets as well as advanced engineering and systems integration skills in Austria and low-cost production sites in Slovakia and Hungary.

In addition, the CEO said SVI’s European customers would have an alternative for Eastern Europe production and logistics while Seidel’s customers would have an option for high-volume production at SVI’s Asian facilities in Thailand and Cambodia.

“This is truly a win, win, win situation for SVI, Seidel and all of our customers,” Pongsak said.

SVI is among the 50 largest EMS providers in the world and already has a very strong position in Europe, with a large portion of its customer base leading original-equipment manufacturers in Scandinavia.

It employs over 2400 people in Thailand, with offices also in Denmark, China and Japan. It had realised revenues of over US$257 million (Bt9.2 billion) in 2014.

Seidel is a leading provider of EMS in Austria and generated turnover of $100 million in 2014 from its locations in that country, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia. The group employs over 700 people. “We expect revenues of the combined company to surpass $400 million in the next 12 months,” Pongsak said.

The deal is subject to merger approval from European authorities.

SVI will use cash flow and bank loans to fund the deal, which does not require shareholder approval as its value is not more than 15 per cent of SVI’s total assets. SVI’s total assets as of September 30 were Bt7.82 billion.

Pongsak, along with a number of executives from SVI, this week plans to visit all Seidel sites in Europe to meet with its employees and customers.

Dhep Vongvanich, country executive director – Vietnam of SCG, said on Saturday that the leading Thai industrial conglomerate was determined to run a cement factory in Vietnam and would push ahead with its $4.5-billion integrated petrochemical complex here, despite the recent withdrawal of Qatar Petroleum, one of the four key partners in the project, dubbed as Long San Petrochemicals.

“Our target is that we must have a cement factory here but by when we still cannot say. We’re studying if we should invest on our own or through a joint venture,” he said.

SCG is talking with three to four potential partners to succeed Qatar Petroleum and expects to finalise the negotiations this quarter.

The startup of the Long San Petrochemicals project will be delayed by no more than six months from late 2019 to early 2020.

SCG runs 22 operations in Vietnam, including two acquired last year – Prime Group, the largest ceramic tile player in Vietnam, and Tin Thanh Packing (Batico), a flexible packaging company.

During a media interview here, Dhep said SCG now employs nearly 7,000 people in the country, including about 100 Thai staff.

He did not give comparative figures, but was quoted almost five years ago as saying that the Thai firm had nine subsidiaries, had invested $320 million and had annual sales of $280 million in the country by that time.

According to SCG’s presentation at an analysts conference in Singapore earlier this month, as of last September, Indonesia was its largest investment destination with an asset base of Bt43.8 billion, followed by Vietnam with Bt25.7 billion and Cambodia with Bt10.77 billion.

However, in the first nine months of 2015, Vietnam reported the biggest sales of Bt22.24 billion, followed by Indonesia with Bt19.65 billion, Myanmar Bt9.27 billion and Cambodia Bt8.75 billion.

With the commencement of the cement factory last quarter, Indonesia has surpassed Vietnam as the largest overseas operation by sales of the group.

“Indonesia is the largest because it has the cement plant. Because of this, we’re looking also at investing in [upstream] petrochemicals here since Vietnam still has to import all [upstream] petrochemical products.

“About 80-90 per cent of the output from our project will serve domestic demand,” he said.

SCG recently met with Vietnamese authorities to reaffirm its commitment to the Long San Petrochemicals project, and the Vietnamese government gave its full support, he said.

“Vietnam is outstanding for its stable politics, cheap energy costs and diligent people.

“Here is our opportunity while in Thailand, the real estate and construction businesses are slowing down,” he said.

Vietnam’s construction industry grew 10.8 per cent last year. With gross domestic product per capita of only $2,200, the country still offers plenty of opportunities, he added.

TMB Analytics, the research unit of the bank, predicts that gross domestic product this year could grow by 3.5 per cent, up from 2.7 per cent last year. Non-performing loans (NPLs) will be on an upward trend until the end of this year, so prudent provisions are a safeguard for the bank. Also, it wants to maintain the coverage ratio in the range of 140-150 per cent.

Last year, TMB had a coverage ratio of 142 per cent as it set aside provisions of Bt5.48 billion, up by 59 per cent from 2014. The significant provisions pulled down the bank’s net profit by 2 per cent to Bt9.33 billion. The bank will try to keep its NPLs this year below 3 per cent after they climbed last year to 2.99 per cent from 2.85 per cent at the end of 2014.

“Where we were able to do well last year was in the cost-to-income ratio, which dropped to 49 per cent from 53 per cent in 2014, as total income grew by three times expenses, from the target of two times. The bank will try to maintain the growth of both income and lending,” Boontuck said.

Last year, TMB’s total income increased by 12 per cent to Bt33.45 billion, with non-net interest income from retail and business customers the key driver.

Based on the GDP growth target of 3.5 per cent this year, expansion of both loans and deposits is expected to be in the range of 8-10 per cent, while non-net interest income is projected to grow by 25-30 per cent.

TMB’s three banking sectors unveiled their strategies and business plans for this year, which will embrace digitisation to improve the experience of customers, which will strengthen its businesses.

The bank will upgrade to a new version of Business click and launch its mobile application for SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) customers. For retail customers, it will next month launch the “ME by TMB” mobile app, for self-service deposit banking, and add mutual funds and bancassurance to its mobile banking.

Last year, the bank welcomed 292,846 new digital-banking users, up from 34,954 in 2014.

TMB employs digital banking as a tool for offering financial services to customers. It believes digital banking has a lot of room to grow because only 19 per cent of Thai bank customers use it, compared with 36 per cent in Indonesia and 44 per cent in Vietnam.

In developed countries in Asia, the penetration rate is 90 per cent, Boontuck said, referring to data from the 2014 McKinsey Asia Personal Financial Service Survey.

The three partners signed the equity joint-venture contract for establishing Guangxi Fangchenggang Nuclear Power (II) Co, which will develop, construct and operate Fangchenggang NPP Phase II.

The investment by Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding (Ratch) was conducted through Ratch China Power, a subsidiary, with a 10-per-cent shareholding.

CGN and GIG hold 61 and 39 per cent respectively.

Ratch chief executive officer Rum Herabat said yesterday that the transaction marked a milestone of successful business expansion into China.

Partnering with CGN, a leading nuclear-power producer, Ratch is ready to pursue potential investment in clean-energy projects in Thailand and elsewhere in Asean, he said.

Fangchenggang NPP Phase II is valued at around Bt200 billion. Ratch will inject capital of Bt7.5 billion in the project and dividend income from the deal is expected to be generated in 2021, under the 30-year power-purchase contract.

“CGN’s world-class expertise and experience in nuclear power, with its integrated range of nuclear power service, has been a major factor in Ratch’s investment decision-making,” Rum said.

“It’s the fact that CGN presently processes 16 operating units of nuclear power plants, with a total capacity of 17.08 gigawatts – accounting for 60 per cent of the entire capacity in China – and 11 units of under-construction plants, with a total capacity of 13.64GW – 50 per cent of China’s capacity.

“It also owns clean-energy facilities in China, including hydroelectric power plants, solar farms, wind farms and natural gas, and invests in a number of nuclear power and clean-energy projects in Europe and Asia,” the CEO said.

“Ratch has also taken into an account the social and environmental benefits to support our decision-making. It is an opportunity for Thai technical personnel in developing and enhancing their skills and experiences by sharing nuclear-related knowledge and techniques with CGN, which has more than 30 years’ expertise in this field.

“The achievement and experience of CGN in low-carbon environment management is another area for learning, because it is important in curbing climate change,” he added.

Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Project is regarded as a 6,000-megawatt project, which is divided into three phases for development.

Phase I comprises Units 1 and 2, which are already constructed and operating.

Phase II, in which Ratch is partially involved, comprises Units 3 and 4, each with 1,180MW capacity.

Construction of Unit 3 began last month and is expected to be completed within five years.

Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Project Phase II is in southern China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region, 45 kilometres from the border with Vietnam.

Electricity from the power plant, which will have a 60-year operational life span, will be distributed to domestic off-taker Ratch under a power-purchase contract.

The transaction increases the Thai company’s power equity capacity by 236MW.

Ratch’s clean-energy capacity from hydroelectric, wind, solar and nuclear power will rise to 720.79MW, with its total capacity from fossil-based and clean energy surging to 6,814.12MW.

His father, Sumeth Pimtong, now 63, established the business on the bypass road in Chon Buri.

“I started helping my father run the business when I graduated from high school,” said Jatuphon, 35, who is now managing director of Pimtong Charoen Rungruang Co Ltd.

“At the time, there was nobody helping my father to run the business, which had been experiencing a higher volume of casting work. So I decided to discontinue my studies and help my father run the operation, a decision that would allow my younger sister and brother to continue their own studies,” he explained.

Jatuphon said that working at the foundry was not, however, at the outset an easy thing for him to do, as he had no knowledge of casting.

“I needed to work for six years in the operation and stay close to the workers, from whom I was able to learn thoroughly how to cast Buddha statues, and how to mould a figure,” he said.

“I was also able to see both good and bad things from them about the casting work, and these ideas could be used for further improvement of the operation,” he added.

Jatuphon said his father had left his hometown in Chon Buri’s Phanat Nikhom district in search of a living in Bangkok when he was 15.

Sumeth first worked in exchange for meals at Ban Chang Lor, a fine-crafts village renowned for all types of Buddha-image casting, which is a very complicated process.

This was where his father learned his eventual trade, although he took up a series of other occupations for a number of years before establishing his own business, his son said.

“About 30 years ago, my father went to Saudi Arabia to work in the oil-rigging business. He was there for about four years, and then came back to Thailand and worked on a pig farm in Chiang Rai for another two years. He then assisted his older brother, who had opened a foundry factory for Buddha statues in Bangkok.

“My father was then a broker for land plots in Phanat Nikhom, before setting up his own foundry for Buddha statues in Chon Buri with an initial investment of only Bt1 million,” Jatuphon said.

The business has since grown and, with Jatuphon at the helm, now generates annual revenue of Bt12 million and has a staff of 30.

However, he said his only concern about the Buddha-image casting business was that there would soon be a shortage of skilled founders, as people were much less interested these days in developing such skills.

The slim growth reflected the low purchasing power of people in this country, especially the grass roots.

Instant noodle companies last year spent more than Bt750 million altogether on marketing activities aimed at stimulating sales.

Vathit Chokwatana, vice president of Saha Pathanapibul, distributor of Mama instant noodles, said the market was worth Bt14.5 billion last year, up by only 0.4 per cent from 2014. That year, the market grew by 1 per cent over 2013.

“Mama also grew by 0.4 per cent, the same as the overall market. We remain the market leader with a 51-per-cent share,” he said, adding that the second leader was Yum Yum with 21 per cent, and Wai Wai was third with 20 per cent.

Mama Cup, however, commands more than 54 per cent of its segment, and grew by 3.2 per cent last year. Overall, the cup-noodle market grew by only 1.8 per cent.

“We [Mama] are not an economic indicator as defined by many people. Last year with the slow economy, we ourselves also recorded weak sales performance,” Vathit said.

“This year, however, we anticipate the overall instant-noodle market to see a higher growth than last year, at 2 per cent. There are many optimistic factors, especially the economic stimulus measures being issued by the government as well as the implementation of the Asean Economic Community, which will allow the flow of people from neighbouring countries to Thailand.”

He said the only challenge this year would be drought, which would have an impact on the spending power of farmers and grass-roots people.

He said Mama targeted sales to increase by 5 per cent this year. The company will spend more than Bt250 million on marketing activities.

Mama currently contributes about 33 per cent of Saha Pathanapibul’s annual revenue.

The company plans to penetrate more overseas markets, including Bangladesh, Hungary, Cambodia and Myanmar, to offset the sluggishness of the mature instant-noodle market in Thailand.