Thai Airway has now brought all passengers stranded in Hong Kong back to Thailand and normal services to Hong Kong will resume today. Sumeth Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways International (THAI), said that Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob and his deputy, Thaworn Senniam, have been closely monitoring the situation and had directed the airline to ensure no passengers were left at Hong Kong international airport. With heightened security now in place and the holding of protessts in the terminal only permitted if a “Letter of No Objection” from police is granted, Thai Airways will resume normal operations.

Flights TG600, TG628, TG606, TG638, and TG602 took 1,420 passengers including 1 baby from Bangkok to Hong Kong on August 14, while 1,380 passengers including 6 babies travelled on the return legs.

Flight TG603 departed Hong Kong at 7.44am today and landed at Suvarnabhumi airport at 9.25am with 289 passengers on board.

Passengers booked to travel to and from Hong Kong but wishing to change their route can do so at no extra charge provided they purchase tickets between August 5 and 26. Such changes will be subject to the term and agreement of the company. Thai Airways will keep a close eye on the situation to ensure passenger security.

For more news and information on flights, visit thaiairways.com or call the 24-hour Contact Centre at (02) 356 1111.

The interest rate cut would reduce minimum loan rate (MLR) cut from 6.25 per cent to be 6.125 per cent, the minimum overdraft rate from 7 per cent to 6.875 per cent and the minimum retail rate from 6.75 per cent to 6.625 per cent.

The reduction is part of the measures the bank is taking to help its customers reduce the cost of interest rates following the Bank of Thailand’s announcement early this one of a 0.25 per cent cut in the interest rate, he added.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index dropped 1.6 per cent in this morning trading.

Nikkei 225 plunged almost 2 per cent, falling 1.8 per cent in Thursday’s morning trading. In China, Shenzhen Composite dropped more than 1 per cent as did the Shanghai Composite while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed half a per cent. Investors in South Korea showed less concern, with the Kospi rising about half a per cent.

US markets led the sharp fall on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones closing 3.05 per cent down, Nasdaq plunging 3.02 per cent and the S&P 500 falling 2.93 per cent.

Poor economic indicators from China and Germany spooked investors.

China’s industrial output grew by 4.8 per cent year-on-year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Wednesday. The growth rate was 1.5 percentage points lower compared with June and July’s industrial output figure was the lowest in 17 years.

German GDP shrank by 0.1 per cent in the second quarter, raising fears that Europe’s biggest economy could be heading for recession. Investors interpreted poor economic conditions as a result of the trade war between the US and China.

US investors were also panicked by an inverted yield curve as yields on 10-year bond were lower than on two-year bonds, a signal of a looming recession. On Twitter, President Donald Trump blamed the Federal Reserve, calling it “clueless” and noting he has repeatedly called for larger interest rate cuts.

Howeve, prominent economist and Noble prize laureate Paul Krugman downplayed threat of recession saying on Twitter that “objectively, the economic problems are nowhere near as serious as 2008, or even 2001. But we’re being led by the gang that couldn’t think straight.” Krugman blamed Trump and his aides for poor economic policies and said that Fed is unlikely to come and rescue the markets.

Krugman was also not worried about the inverted yield curve of US bonds, saying that it means markets are begging governments to borrow. He added that the inverted yield curve was a result of the Fed earlier raising its short term rates.

There were signs of the market stabilizing as S&P 500 Futures rose half a per cent in Thursday’s morning trading.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has assigned the Industry Ministry to cooperate with the Board of Investment (BOI) to hold a roadshow to beat other nations in attracting investors to Thailand, among other new measures designed to attract investors, and particularly high technology firms.

Somkid said he has asked the ministry to work with the BOI to closely monitor companies that are considering shifting their production from China to Thailand, with a special focus on high-technology companies. The US-China trade war is reportedly having an effect on production in China, creating an opportunity to attract companies that are considering a shift to Asean countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

“The BOI need to facilitate and apply trade measures to attract investors to Thailand, especially a Bt10 billion fund to maximise our performance in competing for investments. That fund support will be Thailand’s strong point, even though the basic wage in Thailand is much higher than in Vietnam” Somkid said.

The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) must also change its focus to build a particular industrial estate to support Thai SME business, especially within the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), he said. The private industrial estate companies, such as WHA and Amata, have a high potential which later could evolve into a smart city construction plan. However, the land price in EEC areas is too high to attract SME businesses, and so private estate companies should bend toward the international market or large industrial companies while IEAT supports Thai SME businesses, he said.

The Industry Ministry will also cooperate with the BOI to hold roadshows in an effort to attract investors, while promotional measures need to be adapted to match every category of industrial company and to specify the area of support, such as for bioindustrial companies. The government will set targets by province for attracting companies. If there is support all around, it might attract more investors to Thailand.

Following discussions with the US Charge d’Affaires, the Consul said that Thailand has played an outstanding role in encouraging countries in the Ayeyawady – Chao Phraya – Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy to sign a memorandum of understanding. The Consul would like to invite the Thai government to improve economic cooperation and regional investment to exercise restraint in trade with China, which has adopted the Belt and Road Initiative and with Japan which has extended The Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and is dominating the Asean economic market. Moreover, the US supports Thailand role as a medium for CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam) countries in growing trade and investment.

Speaking at a separate event, Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana urged the listed companies in the SET 50 to increase investment to shore up the sagging economy.

He added that as they are the key engine driving the country’s economy, they should step out of their comfort zones to help the country.

Uttama said that the capital market should create new opportunities for investment to pave the way fo greater opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to raise funds.

As the Stock Exchange of Thailand Index (SET) Index has been falling currently, it is a good opportunity to buy because the market downside will be limited, GPF secretary-general Vitai Ratanakorn said.

The GPF had divested its investment in the local equity market, but we have started to buy more shares, he revealed.

The SET has been volatile largely because of external factors such as the impact of the trade war between the US and China, the violent protests in Hong Kong and the political uncertainty in Argentina. There are some negative domestic factors such as the political issue and the delay in the budget disbursement, he said.

“Looking towards the medium term, the risk factors become limited and the index could rebound to 1,700 by the end of the year,” he said. He was optimistic that once domestic conditions become conducive, investors would return to the stock market.

Despite the bond yield falling, the GPF would continue to invest in fixed-income securities and start to invest in bonds with maturity of three or four years, up from two-year maturity previously, he said.

He believed that central banks around the world, including the Bank of Thailand, might cut the interest rate again this year but it would not be much as a low interest rate would hit a limit.

Fixed-income securities dominate the GPF portfolio, accounting for 62 per cent of total investment. Thai equities represent 7.5 per cent. Foreign equities of developed and emerging markets represent the rest. The GPF has also invested in alternative assets such as property fund and infrastructure fund.

The GPF portfolio has delivered an attractive return of 4.3 per cent annually over the last five years, and it is expected to rise to 4-5 per cent by the end of the year, he assured.

The fund also gives priority to the environment, social and governance issues by setting up an environment, social and corporate governance (ESG)-focused portfolio. It will also join other institutional investors on a collaborative engagement project by investing in line with the negative list guidelines. Next year, the GPF will invest only in companies that meet ESG guidelines.

Over the last six months, the SET has dropped by 2.14 per cent, closing at 1,619.45 on Wednesday (August 14), down 0.78 points from the previous day.

The four banks were Kasikornbank (KBank), Krungthai Bank (KTB), Bangkok Bank (BBL) and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB).

But while KBank, KTB and BBL also cut the Minimum Overdraft Rate (MOR) by 0.25 percentage point, SCB will cut its MOR by 0.125 percentage point bringing its interest rate for MRR to 7.12 per cent and for MOR to 6.745 per cent. SCB’s Minimum Loan Rate or MLR remains unchanged at 6.025 per cent.

BBL director and senior executive vice president Suvarn Thansathit said the bank’s reduction of 0.25 per cent in its MOR and MRR was aimed at helping business operators, especially SMEs, to lower their interest rate costs which contribute to business operation costs.

“Bangkok Bank is committed to assisting business operators to improve their business efficiency and competitiveness, which will help drive the economy in line with government policies”, Suvarn said.

The move by the banks was in line with the central bank’s decision on August 7 to reduce its policy rate from 1.75 to 1.50 per cent.

As of Wednesday, the two rates at KBank stood at 7.12 per cent.

KBank president Predee Daochai confirmed that the aim was to ease the burden on SMEs and retail clients.

KTB’s move to cut its rates by 0.25 percentage point brought its overall rate down to 6.87 per cent.

On Wednesday (August 14), trade officials met with private sector representatives as part of the Joint Public and Private Sector Consultative Committee to discuss ways to help Thai exports cope with the negative impacts of the trade war.

Private sector representatives present at the meeting came from the Thai National Shippers’ Council, the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers’ Association.

Thai exports have been negatively affected by the ongoing US-China trade war. In the first six months of 2019, Thailand’s total exports declined by 2.91 per cent year on year, valued at US$112 billion, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced that he would defer imposition of a 10 per cent tariff hike on $160 billion worth of Chinese exports, which were originally part of the 10 per cent tariff increase on $300 billion worth of Chinese products, set to be implemented on September 1.

However, economists throughout the country have projected Thai exports to decline in 2019 largely as a result of the trade war affecting Thailand’s exports to China, which accounts for over 10 per cent of the Kingdom’s total exports.

Thailand saw its shipments to China in the first half of 2019 contract by 9.72 per cent year on year or close to $1.5 billion in value, according to the Thai Customs department.

Despite these projects, the Commerce Ministry still maintains its “working target” for exports at 3 per cent year-on-year growth, even after today’s meeting with the private sector.

“The Ministry of Commerce, along with the private sector, will form a working group to analyse how Thai exports can further penetrate key markets,” said Jurin Laksanawisit, the newly installed deputy prime minister and commerce minister, during a press conference after he held the committee meeting on Wednesday.

The minister further stated that the “high-potential-market penetration” strategy will “yield tangible results in 3 to 6 months”. However, he declined to comment on what tangible results could be expected from targeting more markets.

The five targeted markets include the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) subregion, the rest of Asean, secondary cities in China, the Middle East, as well as India and South Asia.

These markets have shown high demand for Thai goods, giving Thai exports the potential to further penetrate these destinations and grow in value in the upcoming months, he said.

The working group, with representatives from the ministry and the private sector, will closely examine ways to increase Thai exports to these markets, as well as promote the goods that do particularly well for each destination, he explained.

For instance, Jurin continued, Thai exports of rice to Iraq have been historically strong. However, due to political reasons, Thai exports of rice to the Middle East country have reduced gradually since 2013.

Hence, the committee found that there was a good opportunity to revive Thai exports to Iraq in the upcoming months, he said.

Kitsana Vachekrilas, secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, stated: “The private sector has been waiting for the formation of the new government for many months in the hope that a clear trade policy will emerge to boost Thai exports.”

Today’s meeting with the ministry has led to a public-private sector working group to solve trade issues in Thailand which may lead to promising results, he said.

“The private sector commends the ministry for playing an active role to boost Thai exports and looks forward to discuss further issues in the scheduled monthly Joint Public and Private Sector Consultative Committee meetings to discuss further issues,” he concluded.

The US Trade and Development Agency announced on Wednesday the reopening of its programme in Thailand with the goal of supporting the development of priority infrastructure projects in the energy, transportation, and telecommunications sectors, and helping to foster new commercial partnerships between the two countries.

The move is being seen by critics as an effort to counter Chinese influence. The Asian giant has invested in infrastructure projects, such as high-speed railways and major highways, in the region.

The US had cut close economic cooperation and aid to Thailand following the coup in 2014. It has now resumed collaboration after a new elected government took office.

“This is an important day for the USTDA, and we are proud to reopen our programme in Thailand,” said acting director Thomas R Hardy. “This is an ideal time to connect with new partners across the public and private sectors and advance quality infrastructure in support of Thailand’s development goals.”

To mark its reopening, the USTDA awarded a grant to Thailand-based renewable energy company Blue Solar to conduct a feasibility study on a solar photovoltaic power plant with an integrated energy storage system in Suphan Buri province. The project represents one of the first private sector deployments of utility-scale battery storage in Thailand.

Adequate and affordable power supply is critical to meet growing energy needs and drive economic growth in Thailand. Implementation of the project will support the kingdom’s goals to increase its clean energy mix, with new opportunities for US firms to supply solar and energy storage solutions.

The USTDA-funded study will help Blue Solar assess the project’s viability and deliver the designs and analysis required for financing and implementation. This partnership advances the US government’s AsiaEdge initiative to support sustainable and secure energy markets in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We are very grateful to the USTDA for providing a grant to support our project feasibility study,” said Blue Solar managing director Visait Hansaward. “It is our wish that our solar energy storage project will prove that clean energy can be reliable and our country can expect renewable energy to be a mainstream energy source in the near future.”

Nielsen’s Global Consumer Loyalty shows that consumers are actively on the lookout for new brands as the risk of buying new products is lowered due to rising income levels in developing countries. As many as 42 per cent global consumers have said they love trying new things, while nearly half or 49 per cent have said that though they prefer to stick with what they know, they can be inspired to experiment.

Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region have the highest propensity to switch brands, with 47 per cent saying they are willing to try new products, closely followed by 45 per cent of consumers in Africa and the Middle East and 42 per cent in Latin America. Only 36 per cent of consumers in North America and 33 per cent Europe said they were willing to switch brands. As many as 46 per cent of consumers in Thailand said they were open to trying new things and are on the lookout for new products.

“With an overwhelming majority of consumers being actively or passively open to unfaithful action, the risk for brand owners has never been greater,” said Somwalee Limrachtamorn, managing director of Nielsen Thailand.

She attributed part of this buying behaviour to the rise in e-commerce sites, which expands choices and enables price awareness. However, she said there is more to this change in consumer behaviour.

“Urbanisation in Thailand over these past years has increased significantly and will accelerate further in the next five to 10 years. Plu,s the government is launching several mega projects such as the Eastern Economic Corridor [EEC] and the Special Economic Zone Project. With this, consumers are seeking more convenience and flexibility in both shopping and shipping process, while an increased internet penetration is driving consumers’ demand for clarity and access to information. As consumers are offered more options, expectations are becoming more refined and marketers/retailers need to be agile enough to stay ahead of the curve by focusing consumers’ wants and needs,” she said.

The key factor influencing Thai consumers’ choice is value for money, with more than half or 52 per cent of Thai respondents saying that this influences their decision to try new brands or switch from their favourite brand, followed by enhanced quality or function (43 per cent). Both factors also rank the high in the Asia-Pacific region, with 40 per cent voting for value-for-money, and 42 per cent for superior quality. Apart from the two topmost factors, price, added benefits and convenience also appeared to be key influencers of brand choice (43 per cent, 43 per cent and 42 per cent respectively).

Hence, Somwalee said brands should not focus on winning or retaining loyal customers. “The drag effect of consumer demand for choice and voting with their wallets will overwhelm existing marketing and product development efforts if brands don’t more aggressively address disloyalty in the marketplace,” she said.

Overall, consumers’ willingness to try new brands is on the rise – 50 per cent of global consumers say they are likely to try new brands, compared to five years ago. In the developed markets of North America, Asia-Pacific and Western Europe one-third of consumers love new, as opportunities to be disloyal have been around for much longer due to the long-standing presence of online and physical retail stores, offering well-stocked shelves and multiple choices and price points.

On the flipside, a larger proportion of consumers (closer to half) in developing markets of Asia Pacific (50 per cent), Latin America (49 per cent) and Africa and Middle East (42 per cent), are enthralled with new products demonstrating an increase in brand-switching, given that historically retail and product assortment in these markets have been informal and limited, with only two or three product options on shelf per category. In Thailand, 41 per cent of consumers also agree that they are more likely to try new brands compare to five years ago.

A further multiplier to the equation is that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of Thai consumers are reviewing products across a broader range. This group of “conscious considerers” are important because even though they are choosing more widely than ever across brands, they tell us they prefer to stay with those they’ve tried in the past. It will take more to convince these consumers to change, but they still send signals of disloyalty.

Truth be told, according to research by CA Technologies, Thailand is the most digitally disrupted market in the Asia Pacific and Japan. Some 95 per cent of business and IT leaders in Thailand have indicated that both the market and their organisations have been affected by digitalisation. And 98 per cent have stated that their job has been changed by it.

To be honest, 98 per cent is almost everyone, which means almost all the businesses in Thailand are already going through some sort of change in job roles and organisation.

When we talk about “job change”, it has two implications: First, the role or the job profile has been changed completely. Second, the style of working and nature of the job has changed drastically to the point where old traditional styles and ways of working are no longer applicable.

Another research indicated that an estimated 9.2 million Thais are at risk of losing their jobs to machines, while eight million other jobs are on the line in the next two decades, affecting nearly half of the country’s entire employment.

Looking at these high numbers, one can predict the degree and magnitude of disruption that is approaching, and these raise one essential question: How many companies and staff in Thailand are ready for change and the huge transition of skills?

Another report by IDC has predicted that by 2022, more than 61 per cent of Thailand’s GDP will be digitalised, with growth in every industry driven by digitally enhanced offerings, operations, and relationships.

Considering the size and magnitude of the transition that is coming, with regards to the time left to prepare, it is another confirmation that some traditional jobs are soon going to disappear from the job market in a matter of a few years, while for some of them, the nature of work and style will completely change.

Given the future that lies ahead of us, how can leaders prepare themselves and their organisations for the challenges ahead?

There are two approaches to dealing with this situation – reskilling and upskilling.

Reskilling helps your people to learn an entirely new skill outside of their current skillset and allows them to shift their career on a new path the future promises, even while their current job sector gets disrupted and starts to disappear from the market.

Upskilling is about upgrading your existing skillset to help you carry out your current job better and grow as an individual in all possible dimensions, be it quality, speed, productivity, efficiency, or even all the irreplaceable soft skills that machines cannot provide.

According to a report by PwC, Talent Trends 2019: Upskilling for a Digital World, 79 per cent of CEOs worldwide are concerned that a lack of essential skills in their workforces is threatening the future growth of their organisations, which is a big rise compared to 63 per cent in 2014.

The report also indicated that almost half – 46 per cent – of CEOs globally say significant retraining/upskilling is the most important initiative to close a potential skills gap, against 18 per cent who say it’s hiring from outside their industry.

There are two confirmations from these statistics – there are clearly not enough skills to handle the level of challenges that digital disruption is bringing, and second, out of all the options and proposals we have right now, reskilling and upskilling is probably the most effective and sustainable long-term solution considering our current capacity and resources.

Since reskilling and upskilling appears to be the road ahead, you might be asking – how can you, as a leader, encourage, motivate and empower your people in a way that they embrace change with an open mind, and are constantly willing to learn, grow and evolve to align themselves with the organisational shift?

Honestly speaking, it’s a challenge. Organisational transformation has never been easy for anyone. But it’s not impossible. All you need to do is know your people first, understand their perspective and challenges, and then address the need of change in a way that makes sense to them, and not in terms of some new high-level strategic goal or KPI that the management wants them to meet.

The change you’re proposing needs to be meaningful to every employee in your organisation, and the change begins with you.

Arinya Talerngsri is chief capability officer and managing director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup) Southeast Asia’s Lifelong Learning Centre. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa.