The Asean region is of growing importance for Covestro as it represents the company’s second-largest market in the Asia-Pacific region after China. Thailand was chosen as the new regional hub because one of Covestro’s eight largest production facilities is situated in Map Ta Phut, an industrial region on the Gulf of Thailand. At that site, the company mainly produces polycarbonate, which is a high-tech plastic used in many areas of daily life.

Covestro’s portfolio also includes raw materials for polyurethane foams as well as for coatings, adhesives and speciality products.

The new headquarters was opened on Thursday in the presence of Frank Lutz, Covestro’s chief financial officer.

“As a world-leading supplier of high-value polymers and innovative solutions for thousands of customers in key industries such as the automotive, construction and electronic sector, Covestro is well positioned for success,” he said. “Our investments and portfolio are strategically situated and fit to the market.”

Samir Hifri, president of Covestro Thailand Co, added: “Our company is very well prepared to meet the needs of our customers and end users by being present in the Asean region with the full range of business activities such as world-class productions assets, technical laboratories, [and] highly competent commercial and technical people.”

Third largest economy

Hifri also stressed the importance of the Aseanregion for Covestro as it is the third-largest economy in Asia, with a combined gross domestic product of US$2.5 trillion.

“With the newly established Asean Economic Community, Covestro is looking at Asean with high interest,” he said. “A well-managed AEC will expand economic activity, grow the middle class and stimulate further demand for our products and solutions.”

Having the third-largest population in the world with 622 million people, the Asean region faces challenges in housing and food security. Covestro says it tries to ensure that people at the bottom of the social pyramid have access to its innovations.

“In keeping with our mission ‘to make the world a brighter place’, Covestro offers its products and innovative solutions to help address the basic needs of people and help in their sustainable social and economic transformations through collaboration with government institutions and non-governmental organisations,” Hifri said.

“Each solution from every stakeholder must contribute positively towards the environment and create value to every stakeholder.”

Covestro has partnered with Habitat for Humanity and private partners for the construction of an initial 1,000 affordable but calamity-proof houses in the Philippines, which were struck in 2013 by the strongest typhoon in recent history.

In the area of agriculture, Covestro is replicating solar-dryer technology using its polycarbonates as well as cold storage that uses its polyurethanes for the agro-enterprises of farmers in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar.

Lutz emphasised that Covestro continued with its positive momentum after its independence from Bayer in September and going public in October.

“Following a successful third quarter, we see confirmation of our confidence for the full fiscal year. We expect a substantial increase in profitability in 2015. Also, free operating cash flow is on track for a new record,” he said.

A recent milestone was the listing in the MDAX stock market index, making it one of the 80 most important listed companies in Germany, where Covestro is headquartered. “We accomplished one of Europe’s most successful IPOs| [initial public offerings] in 2015,” Lutz said. “The Covestro share price has developed well since our IPO|on October 6 and is now well |above the issue price of 24 euros. Our stock is now trading at around 34 euros [Bt1,340] and trending upward.”

Covestro has a clear strategy, the main purpose of which is to achieve further profitable growth.

This should be supported by favourable dynamics of its core markets and industries, which are expected to grow faster than the world economy in the years to come.

“The basis for our future success is continuous innovation, and we embrace sustainability in everything we do,” Lutz said.

Covestro says its further competitive strengths are its leading and defendable global industry positions based on a focused product portfolio and global scale as well as its well-invested, large-scale asset base and competitive cost position.

Furthermore, its high-value raw materials for coatings, adhesives, sealants and other specialities show an attractive and historically resilient margin profile, it says.

“Now is the time for us to open the showroom in Phuket, as the Asian Economic Community takes effect, which will affect the market and every business in it,” said Praowphan, co-owner of Quattro Design.

“It is not just about reaching local people here in Phuket and neighbouring southern destinations, such as Phang Nga, Krabi, Hat Yai and Koh Samui. The island is a hub, a dream destination for people around the world.”

Praowphan sees the move as an effective way to reach other markets in the AEC, especially Singaporean and Malaysian clientele, as well as the Chinese market.

Aiming to fill a gap in the luxury property sector, where demands and expectations for quality, durability and style are high, the collection of exclusive brands at Quattro Design ranges from vintage to classic art decor, and from contemporary minimalist designs to world-class names such as Prizmic & Brill, Kenneth Cobonpue, Schema and Eichholtz.

After the launch of a pop-up store at the Boat Lagoon in November, the pair decided to move ahead with establishing the full-size Quattro Design showroom at Boat Avenue, adding another trendy brand to the booming new Laguna-area shopping mall.

“We want to be the one-stop shop for luxury, affordable luxury, design. We are not only able to provide high-quality furniture and accessories, we can handle entire design projects as well. Already, we have done lots of projects for the hospitality industry, the residential sector and commercial space owners,” Praowphan said.

“There are lots of opportunities in Phuket to work with villa owners and those in the hospitality industry.”

As well as bringing the world’s leading home and hospitality art decor to Phuket, the Quattro team of concept designers now offers a wide range of turnkey solutions to hoteliers, developers and home-decor enthusiasts.

The Quattro Design team specialises in transforming residences, businesses and resorts with a full range of high-quality eye-catching items, including sofas, armchairs, ottomans, benches, coffee tables, mirrors and lighting, plus a range of trendy and durable outdoor day beds and recliners.

Praowphan said Ikea’s opening of a pick-up and order point in Phuket, even though it is the first in Asia, would not have an impact to Quattro Design’s move on to the island.

“The opening of Ikea doesn’t really affect us, as it caters to a different market. It’s totally different in terms of price and quality of work. We focus more on luxury and affordable luxury.” With more than a decade of experience in supplying other designers and top architects in Bangkok with concepts from the Quattro Design flagship store on Soi Thonglor, Praowphan is confident that the push into Phuket will give her and Wichada a platform to showcase their turnkey interior-design and decor services to discerning homeowners, villa operators and hoteliers in key Asian markets.

“A change in policy and regulations related to broadcasting could have either positive or negative impacts for all involved. So the policymakers or regulators should be cautious about making any changes in key regulations to make sure that law enforcement remains consistent,” RS chief executive officer Surachai Chetchotisak said yesterday.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommu-nications Commission, has called a meeting of all 24 holders of digital-TV licences next Tuesday to hear their complaints and ideas, including the desire of some operators to exit from the licence-based regime.

He said this meeting aimed to seek remedies for troubled broadcasters including Thai TV Co, which has said it wants to leave the digital-TV business.

Surachai said the NBTC should support the industry’s organic growth even though the TV-licence auction in late 2013 had liberalised the more-than-50-year-old industry, expanding it from only six players into a new market for 24 digital-TV broadcasters, including Channel 8 run by RS.

“In a free market, there must be both winners and losers. To win in this game, a good player must be well prepared with strong content strategy and understanding its audience’s needs well,” the CEO said.

Surapol Peeraopongpipat Pera-pongpipath, director for marketing and sales at GMM One Digital TV, operator of the One digital channel, said he wanted to wait and see how the NBTC handles this challenging matter. “I personally believe that the growth in channels from six incumbents to 24 players appears to have made it difficult for the new TV broadcasters to build their audience bases while the same audiences are still familiar with the incumbents. So we need more support from the broadcasting regulator,” he said.

The idea of modifying the current licence-based regime app-ears to differ from the views of Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the NBTC’s broadcasting committee. He believes that the birth of digital terrestrial TV opened more doors for both old and new players. In a free market, there might be gainers and losers.

“However, mergers and acquisitions might be an answer for those troubled broadcasters under the current licence-based regime,” he said.

After a merger or acquisition, the corporate entity must remain unchanged and in accordance with Thai business regulations. This means the company must be wholly owned by Thai shareholders.

Under this law, foreign investors are permitted to hold a maximum of 25 per cent of the company. A management reshuffle is allowed in accordance with the change of shareholders.

Located in Hemmaraj Industrial Estate, Chon Buri, the facility is expected to open in the first quarter of 2017 with capacity of more than 6,000 data server racks.

It is developed by Supernap Thailand, a joint venture of Supernap International, CPB Equity, Kasikornbank, Siam Commercial Bank, and True IDC.

“Not only will Supernap Thailand help grow Thailand’s digital economy, but it will also support Thai companies that seek to expand their offerings to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) sector,” said Somkid Jiranuntarat, vice chairman of Kasikorn Business-Technology Group. “We know that ultimately this will support our customers and enable us to do more for the Thai business community and public. Having a world-class data centre is truly a competitive advantage for Thailand.”

According to GfK’s analyses, by the start of November 2015, counting air and overnight visits, the number of Chinese travellers to South Korea showed an increase of 112 per cent since 2011. Thailand experienced an increase of 263 per cent, Japan by 157 per cent and Taiwan 54 per cent.

Hong Kong, which was the preferred destination for China’s outbound tourists up until 2013, saw a 37 per cent increase in the period.

“China’s outbound tourists remain strategic to Hong Kong and its businesses – but other destinations are jumping ahead in winning their favour. Destinations such as Hong Kong need to re-evaluate China’s new breed of young and independently-minded travellers, to understand how best to attract them and capitalize on the growth of China’s outbound tourism,” said Laurens van den Oever, global head of travel and hospitality research at GfK.

Since 2014, increasing numbers of China’s outbound tourists have been opting for other destinations that offer historical and cultural experiences, as well as shopping.

The analyses showed that last year China produced 109 million outbound tourists who spent a total of US$229 billion (approximately Bt8.2 trillion).

These statistics consolidate China’s position as one of the top global sources of tourists, in terms of both number of trips and money spent during international travel. At the same time, there have been profound changes in the behaviour of the typical Chinese traveller, with Chinese Millennials firmly established as the core drivers of China’s outbound tourism spending.

Europe remains the most popular destination for Chinese travelling outside of Asia, showing an increase of 97 per cent in the number of air and overnight visits in the last four years. This is followed by North America (up 151 per cent) and the Middle East (up 177 per cent). Africa remains the destination least visited by Chinese tourists – but with signs that this could be changing, as visits have risen by 306 per cent since 2011.

According to GfK data, half (50 per cent) of China’s outbound travellers are aged 15-29 years old – the “millennials” group – while over a third (37 per cent) are aged 30-44 and 10 per cent are 45-59.

An annual study from GfK shows that Chinese Millennials are more ambitious than their predecessors, aged 50 and above – and more hedonistic in their willingness to spend money to indulge and pamper themselves. They are also slightly less price sensitive, being the biggest purchasers of luxury goods in Asia Pacific.

For destinations looking to attract this lucrative group, then, the ideal approach is to approach them not as ’tourists’ but as independent travellers who will respond to opportunities to plan personalised trips.