It recently signed agreements with the subsidiaries of Kanbawza KBZ Group of Companies Ltd, Brighter Energy Co Ltd and Brighter Energy Retail Co Ltd, to invest in the two projects.

The first, in collaboration with Brighter Energy Co Ltd, involves the supply and distribution of petroleum products and the development of an oil tank depot, a port, and a LPG plant. This project is expected to be completed in 2021.

“The oil tank depot will have a total capacity of 1 million barrels of oil and 4,500 metric tonnes of LPG,” he said.

The second project, a joint venture with Brighter Energy Retail Co Ltd, will see the development of gas stations and and expansion of its Cafe Amazon outlets in the country.

“We plan to operate at least 70 gas stations in Myanmar by 2023,” he said, citing its experience in

running more than 2,000 gas station in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines

The company expects monthly sales of up to 1,000 tonnes for its LPG project in Myanmar.

It will also expand the Cafe Amazon chain in Myanmar from 7 to 100 branches by 2023.

Currently, the company has a total of 2,800 Cafe Amazon outlets in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Japan, Singapore, and Oman.

“We have adopted an aggressive investment strategy in Myanmar where the economy grows an average of six and seven per cent a year, with the demand for oil rising by up to 10 per cent annually. This is a high potential market for us,” Attapol said.

The plant will be a joint venture between PTTGC and Alpla Group Southeast Asia (ALPLA), a global leader in the manufacturing of plastic products with more than 60 years of experience.

It will also be the first factory for the European-standard recycled plastic pellets in Thailand with an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum: 35,000 tonnes of recycled PET (rPET) pellets, and 15,000 tonnes of recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE).

The facility will be located at Asia Industrial Estate in Map Ta Phut district, Rayong and will require not less than Bt1 billion in capital investment. Construction will take about 18 months for completion by end of 2020.

Patiparn said major clients of the planed plant for recycled plastic pellets will be big companies which give importance to the environment, such as Coca-Cola and Unilever.

“Regarding the demand for recycled plastics in Thailand, despite receiving lukewarm support from the government, we are confident that the plant will be able to export the products as it meets European standards,” he said.

PTTGC will also expand its investment in recycled plastic pellets at a later stage . The plan is currently under study for an appropriate model, in terms of the spread of factories in remote cities with large volume of garbage. It will invite participation by independent investors, who will apply the company’s business model and sell their recycled plastic pellets back to the company.

“We have set a five-year goal to end the production of single-use plastic pellets, currently at about 150,000 tonnes per year, from two million tonnes per annum of total manufacturing capacity of plastic pallets,” said Patiparn, adding that the move is in line with the preservation trend of anti plastic wastes.

“We are mapping up business plans catering to the change, such as converting our manufacturing process for many plastic products from single-use to multi-use, including pipe, cable, and fibre.

In January, PTTGC and Silpakorn University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote eco-friendly BioPBSTM for use in the production of BioPBSTM coated paper cup and biodegradable straws in response to the “Be Smart, Be Green” policy, which supports the principles of the circular economy and global sustainability.

The company is in the process of examining the contract before closing the sale deal of THAI aircraft to the private US company, he said adding that it also depends on the acceptance of the buyer. “We are studying details of the contract, especially in the area of pre-operational maintenance activities, ” Sumeth said.

In regard to THAI’s plan for the purchase of 38 new aircraft, Sumeth said it had submitted the proposal to the Transport Ministry, pending consideration as a policy matter, before seeking approval from the Cabinet.

“I would affirm that the purchase of new aircraft is quite necessary as it will raise our competitiveness. I believe the new administration will approve the plan,” said Sumeth.

Thomas has been with Airbnb since 2016, and most recently, was head of public policy for Australia, New Zealand, India and Southeast Asia. In this role, he worked with policymakers to develop fair regulations that now cover more than 70 per cent of the Airbnb community in Australia.

He was also responsible for developing partnerships with government and non-government organisations, including Emergency Management Victoria, Maharashtra Tourism, the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management and United Voice, which covers people working in Australia’s cleaning industry.

“We know that Airbnb’s community-based model and authentic, sustainable travel delivers enormous benefits to local families, businesses and communities. With his proven track record, Brent will spearhead our work with governments to support and promote the opportunities our community generates,” Siew Kum Hong, Airbnb’s regional director for Asia Pacific, said.

The bank gives its employees to take a day off each year to participate in the programme and anticipates that 24,000 staff members will devote 200,000 hours of service to their communities by the end of 2019.

Senior executive vice president Dr Adit Laixuthai said the programme extended to both working hours and free time.

The project started in 2016 with an initial target of 20,000 hours of volunteer service. Entering its fourth year, the project targets 24,000 participating employees and 200,000 hours.

Staff members are encouraged to invite their family members, friends and colleagues to volunteer for social work in line with the “Green DNA” concept of sustainable development embedded in the staff’s collective conscience through every business process at KBank.

More than 30,000 employees of KBank, KBTG and K Companies are free to take a day off each year to share their knowledge via a volunteer activity of their choice, whether alone or as a group of at least 10.

KBank provides each group Bt5,000 to engage in environmental conservation and any other activities that will benefit society at large or the underprivileged.

KBank believes such activities let its employees spend more time in communities close to their offices, allowing them to better understand the needs and problems of local residents.

At the same time, they might help their communities find solutions or organise activities that bring about positive changes.

Employees update their activities via KBank Green DNA on Facebook, sharing their good deeds with the public, which will in turn motivate others to do good works for a sustainable and balanced economy, society and environment.

In the past three years, 41,000 staff members have performed more than 230,000 hours of volunteer activities under the programme.