Targeting Thailand’s growing pool of high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) who are increasingly diversifying their portfolios and accessing investment opportunities overseas, the partnership seeks to provide access to fully integrated onshore and offshore wealth management.

To cater to rising demand, DBS also aims to double its headcount for wealth-relationship managers (RMs) in Thailand by 2023.

Thailand was home to more 122,000 HNWIs as of 2017, almost equal the number in Singapore.

HNWIs are defined as having investable assets of US$1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.

Thai wealth assets under management grew at a robust compound annual growth rate of 12.7 per cent between 2010 to 2017, according to Capgemini’s Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2018.

Today, much of Thai wealth is held in family-owned businesses, which are key drivers of the economy, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the nation’s GDP and over one-third of listed firms on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, according to PwC Thailand Family Business Survey 2019.

DBS believes these family businesses will be well-served by its unique “one-bank” proposition, which provides access to offerings across wealth management, retail, investment and corporate banking.

The partnership brings together DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand)’s comprehensive onshore offering across funds, equities, structured notes and bonds and DBS Private Bank’s global wealth expertise, extensive Asian network and offshore wealth management solutions.

This first-in-market “one-stop” proposition enables DBS’ wealth clients in Thailand to conveniently access and manage their investments in one place. In contrast, existing market practices require investors to go through separate entities for their investment needs – one for onshore and another for offshore.

“This partnership represents our commitment to growing our business in Thailand,” said Sim S Lim, Group Head of Wealth Management and Consumer Banking at DBS Bank. “We believe the Thai wealth market holds immense potential, having witnessed Thai investors’ growing sophistication and receptiveness to investment ideas, and the Bank of Thailand’s encouraging regulatory stance towards offshore investments.

“We’ve served Thai investors for over two decades through our securities business and understand their needs and preferences. With our strong Asian expertise and connectivity, leading digital capabilities, and reputation as Asia’s safest and the world’s best, we seek to become a trusted partner by providing customers with seamless access to opportunities and wealth management solutions both within and beyond Thailand’s shores.”

Pattera Dilokrungthirapop, CEO at DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand), said Thai HNWIs are “relatively conservative with offshore investments, but this is beginning to change”.

“As their personal wealth grows, we’re seeing corresponding demand for holistic wealth management services and global investment strategies. Today, what they want is a ‘one-stop shop’ that provides trusted advisory, wealth products and solutions, and a seamless onshore and offshore experience – a gap that DBS can effectively fill through this partnership.”

DBS has been operating a securities business in Thailand since 1998. Today, DBS Vickers Securities (Thailand) holds a full securities licence and has established its position as a leading securities company in Thailand.

The study, conducted by management consulting firm AT Kearney, highlights that 5G promises speeds up to 50 times faster, 10 times more responsive, and much lower power connectivity than 4G.

Speed, low latency and enhanced connectivity will help telecom operators provide super-fast Internet connections that enable streaming of high-definition videos, cloud gaming and delivery of interactive augmented and virtual reality-powered content to consumers, the study said.

The technology will also help to fast-track smart cities, Industry 4.0, large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, and more. This will enable telecom operators to increase revenues both from consumers as well as enterprise clients.

Titled “5G in Asean: Reigniting Growth in Enterprise and Consumer Markets”, the study states that Thailand will be among the first few countries to roll out 5G services in 2021.

The study expects 5G penetration to be around 25 to 40 per cent in major countries in the region by 2025, with Thailand seeing 33 per cent penetration. The total number of 5G subscriptions in Asean is forecast to exceed 200 million in 2025.

“Businesses across Thailand, especially in key sectors such as manufacturing, are looking to 4IR [Fourth Industrial Revolution] technologies,” said Vatsun Thirapatarpong, managing director for Thailand and Indochina at Cisco. “The rollout of 5G services in the coming years will bring substantial benefits to enterprises. At the same time, consumers are eagerly awaiting the rollout for an enhanced experience with content consumption on their personal devices. Together, these two trends will play a key role in boosting Thailand’s economic growth in the coming years,” he added.

“The expected rollout of 5G services comes at a perfect time for telecom operators,” said Naveen Menon, president for the Asean region at Cisco. “The usage of cellular data is growing rapidly as users access an increasing amount of services and content on their personal devices. At the same time, enterprises are looking to leverage the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is underpinned by artificial intelligence, IoT, 3D printing, advanced robotics and wearables, to boost growth,” he added.

Telecom operators are likely to invest about $10 billion in the region’s 5G infrastructure by 2025, the study said.

“The rollout of 5G services will require substantial investments in technology to modernise underlying networks,” pointed out Dharmesh Malhotra, managing director for Cisco’s Service Provider business in Asean.

“Telecom operators in the region are likely to continue investing in upgrading their 4G networks and building 5G capabilities in a phased manner. This will allow 4G and 5G to operate simultaneously. Cisco is partnering with network operators in their journey to 5G rollout and is already engaged with customers in Asean on 5G transformation,” he added.

However, the study says that to unlock this potential, the region needs to address some key challenges.

Foremost among these is the slow availability of spectrum for 5G services and the resulting suboptimal network rollout.

5G will be deployed across multiple bands, with three bands likely to be important globally in the near term – low band (700 MHz), mid-band (3.5 to 4.2 GHz), and high-band on mmWave spectrum (24 to 28 GHz).

In Southeast Asia, the low band is being used for FTA TV, while the mid-band is used for satellite services.

Although mmWave bands are available, deployment will need to be combined with low-band spectrum to enable an economically viable coverage of suburban and rural areas as well as in-building access.

Consumers are excited about 5G and are willing to pay for better quality, unlike 3G and 4G technology, the study noted, warning that it would be fatal for operators to engage in a price war just to attract a higher number of subscribers in the hope they can charge them more at a later stage.

On the enterprise side, operators will need to build new capabilities and bundle enhanced connectivity with solutions and applications to help customers understand, implement, and scale up value-enhancing services. They will also have to contend with a new set of competitors that provide private networks to enterprises.

“The overall potential of 5G rollout in Asean is substantial,” said Nikolai Dobberstein, partner at AT Kearney and a lead author of the report. “However, to live up to the full potential, the region will need to address the main challenges. This will require a coordinated effort from all stakeholders – regulators, operators, and enterprises. Among the key issues that regulators would need to take the lead on are: ensuring near-term spectrum availability, fostering infrastructure sharing and nurturing the development of national cybersecurity capabilities across the region.”

In Thailand, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is expected to release the 700 MHz spectrum on technology-neutral terms and allow licence winners to roll out 5G services in December 2020. The commission is also considering auctioning the 2.6 GHz band for 5G by 2020, according to the study.

Upjohn will expand its ability to prevent and to treat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Thailand, the local branch of the pharmaceutical giant said in a Tuesday release.

Upjohn (Thailand) Ltd was established to promote good health for all Thais with targeted coverage of more than 1.5 million patients in 2020 and 2 million patients in 2025, or 33 per cent of Thailand’s patients with non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Pichitchai Jakpaisan, the general manager of Upjohn (Thailand) Ltd, said the company wants to be seen as a leader in dealing with NCDs “by building trust, demonstrating that we have high-quality products, and providing support through our medical expertise”.

About 15 per cent of Thais are now NCD patients, about 10.5 million patients, but 40 Thais die from NCDs every hour. This works out to 1,000 Thais every day, or 350,000 Thais who die yearly from NCDs.

Though the figures are sobering figures, half of Thais dealing with NCDs can survive through effective prevention and treatment, according to the release.

“We want to help the Thai people stay healthy for as long as they live,” said Pichitchai. “We have 20 brands available in Thailand, including therapies in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pain, urology, psychiatry, and other NCDs. We are focused on our mission to serve NCD products through three channels: government hospitals, private hospitals and retail. Through our strategies, we expect to cover more than 1.5 million patients in 2020 and 2 million patients in 2025, or 33 per cent of Thailand’s NCD patients.”

Dr Sachin Rustagi, the research and development lead  for Thailand and Indochina, for the company, sees NCDs as a slow-moving disaster and the leading cause of death and disability, as they account for 71 per cent, or 41 million, of all global deaths each year. Of the 41 million deaths, nearly 85 per cent are in emerging markets and more than a third are premature.

“In Thailand, NCDs are the cause of death for over 75 per cent of all Thai mortalities. The simple fact is that premature deaths are preventable. Doing nothing will cost about $7 trillion, while the cost of prevention is $170 billion worldwide,” said Rustagi.

The four major NCDs are coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes. The risk factors for the four diseases include an unhealthy diet, tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and air pollution, he said.

“In this regard, the current standards, criteria, and surveillance approaches are insufficient for handling such concerns while decreasing the effects of NCDs in a comprehensive and efficient manner. It’s important that we strengthen the coordination between the public and private sectors, and really focus on the key diseases,” said Rustagi.

“We need to have intersectional partnerships among the government, businesses, professionals and civil societies in order to effectively translate urgent policy priorities into action.”

The pharmaceutical company is focused on relieving the burden of NCDs “with trusted, quality medicines for every patient, everywhere, with a goal of treating 225 million new patients worldwide by 2025, including in Thailand,” said Rustagi.

To help patients living with uncontrolled risk factors that put them at risk of NCDs in the future, Upjohn has launched the “Act Today for Tomorrow” programme globally, aiming to create urgency and underline the importance of better treating NCDs with Upjohn’s portfolios, the release noted.