“We are studying two land plots in the country to prepare for developing the next shopping centre in Malaysia, and are also eyeing two new land plots to develop a shopping centre in Vietnam,” said CPN’s deputy chief executive officer, Wallaya Chirathivat, after the grand opening of Central i-City on the weekend.

“We have to take the time to properly study to find the solution that gives us the best business model for each country.”

She said the company could not promise the timing for the next shopping centre projects in Malaysia and Vietnam. When expanding into overseas investments it is important to learn the legalities of investing in each country, as well as to learn the behaviour of local consumers before making a final decision said Wallaya.

“For our first project in Malaysia, the new shopping centre in Shah Alam, we took seven years to study and learn before completing the project. For the next one in Malaysia, and Vietnam, we also have to take time to study before finalising the deal. However, we will try to do so as soon as possible,” Wallaya said. The investment in Central i-City, Shah Alam, is a joint venture with its Malaysian partner, i-Berhad, the owner of the i-City Project, a mixed-use project that boasts the shopping centre as well as condominiums and an office building. CPN holds a 60 per cent stake in the JV firm while 40 per cent is held by i-Berhad with an investment budget of Bt8.5 billion.

The company expects it could take up to 10 years to recoup its investment cost, Wallaya said.

Prior to the weekend’s official opening, the project had held a “soft launch” since March 23. Shopper numbers averaged 30,000 daily over weekdays, and above 50,000 a day during weekends, which Wallaya deemed a success. The customers’ spending records averaged 100 ringgit (Bt749) per head per square foot per month. The project has retail space totalling 904,000 square feet, with 350 retail shops and an opening occupancy rate of about 80 per cent with expectations of achieving 85 per cent by October this year.

“We decided to open our first overseas shopping centre in Malaysia because we saw the purchasing power of the Malaysian people, who have an income up to 200 per cent higher than Thai people. Although the population is lower than for Thailand, the country’s economy also has constant growth,” Wallaya said.

Vietnam also presents a challenge, inviting business expansion as that country’s economy continues to grow and purchasing power is hitting record highs, Wallaya said.

“Our investment expansion in Asean is in line with our business strategy to be a ‘regional retail platform’ in this region. Our strategy will pave the way for and introduce Thai brands into the international markets and offer sustainable business growth with CPN. We will also support Thai brands and products as well as tourism by spearheading a concept of ‘Thainess to the World’,” she said.

Meanwhile, the company is also creating a platform to support the introduction of Malaysian and Vietnamese products to Thailand as part of the company’s aspiration to be the retail platform for the region.

“We want to be ‘the’ retail firm in Asean,” Wallaya said.

Currently, Central i-City has attracted four Thai firms to open up shops in the centre, including Amazon Cafe, Black Canyon, John Henry, and Trudy &Teddy. The new centre also includes Thai restaurants owned by Malaysian people, some of which are locally operated franchisees of Thai brands.

“We believed that with our success in opening our shopping centre in Malaysia, we would challenge Thai investors to open their shops in Central i-City and in the other new projects that we will launch in Malaysia and Vietnam shortly,” she said.

Wallaya added that Asean offers the firm regional potential for its business expansion after having opened 33 shopping centres in Thailand.

Under the expansion strategy, the company will build new factories driven by opportunities in both domestic and international locations, as well as reviewing potential pharmaceutical acquisitions to support its future business.

Vivek Dhawan, CEO and chief coach of Mega Lifesciences Public Co Ltd, noted that it had 36 years of experience developing world-class medicines to promote wellness and improve people’s quality of life. It was a leading brand, offering nutritional and pharmaceutical products and over-the-counter (OTC) medication in 33 countries, as well as the distribution and logistics services for pharmaceutical and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) in Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia.

During this time, MEGA had demonstrated the ability to achieve continuous growth in its business, with average annual revenue increasing by 12.1 per cent from 2010 to 2018, said Dhawan. The company’s normalised net profit increased 19.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2019.

“Our business performance and growth in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia demonstrate that we truly understand the Southeast Asian market. Our acquisition of Bio-Life Marketing Sdn Bhd, one of the leading players of consumer health products in Malaysia, together with our acquisition of ownership rights in designated pharmaceutical products from Sandoz GmbH in Myanmar and Ethiopia, were important in reinforcing our position and our commitment to boosting regional growth,” said Dhawan.

“We also strengthened our offerings, launching new products to deal with pain relief, allergies, and digestive health, in addition to our Eugica natural cough and cold range, medical nutrition supplements, our BiO-LiFE probiotics line and prescription products in select therapeutics. These product groups are expected to play a significant role in furthering the growth of our business. This year, the company plans to launch more than 10 products,” said the CEO.

To continue on its long-term growth trajectory, MEGA has unveiled a strategy to deliver on its commitment to providing high-quality health products by expanding into new markets. The company is focusing on developing countries in Southeast Asia, Central and Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the CIS countries that offer strong growth potential.

MEGA has now started operating in Nepal and plans to begin its operations in Colombia this year, alongside ramping up its presence in Ethiopia and other sub-Saharan African nations. The company is optimistic about the growth opportunities in these markets over the next five to seven years and more, and is reviewing potential acquisitions to further strengthen its regional presence. MEGA is currently evaluating a potential acquisition in Indonesia.

“These potential markets have the potential to grow with a growing population, more NCDs [non-communicable diseases] and the GDP growth to drive consumption. We have presented in these markets with the right products. They are prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines and complementary medicines, including condition-specific vitamins, herbal medicines, probiotics, medical nutrition and natural cough and cold treatments. We are committed to human wellness with teams on the ground engaging with retailers, heath care professionals and consumers, together with our consumer engagement programmes and a holistic offering of high quality affordable medicines to these developing countries,” said Dhawan.

“These developing markets have a unique potential, which is emerging. They enjoy a growing population, an ageing population with growing non-communicable or lifestyle diseases. Every country has this challenge. Higher costs will impact every country other than capacities, which are beds and medical professionals. This creates huge opportunity for countries to educate and develop self-care where pharmacies play a role. And above all, we as humans start actively improving lifestyles and hence the burden on government funding.

Affordable treatments

Meanwhile, the medical community can work on new technologies and improvements to bring cures to many who cannot afford [current treatment] or for diseases that need treatment. Each has a role and this will lead to changes in the way we manage health – [moving] from ‘sick care’ to ‘wellness care’,” he said.

“We are working on bringing new drugs – through our venture in Myanmar. We are also doing work to educate humans on lifestyle changes through our Wellness We Care Centre. Meanwhile, we continue to bring the best products backed by science and made at world-class facilities. And developing a digital platform, a ‘we care app’, to become a source of knowledge and a guide for professionals and consumers to become more involved in their wellness,” said Dhawan.

Dhawan said that MEGA is making a capital investment of over Bt1.2 billion with part of it already spent as of March 2019 and with the remainder to be spent over the next two to three years. This investment includes around Bt600 million towards building a new factory in Myanmar under the Mega-MSN Joint Venture (MSN Laboratories is the fastest growing research driven company from India). This factory, with construction expected to begin in 2019, will produce new-generation medicines to treat cancer, diabetes and heart disease, which should be available on the market by 2022-2023.

MEGA has also opened a state-of-the-art large distribution centre in Myanmar to support logistics and distribution services, resulting in more efficient inventory management. The distribution centre is ISO 9001-accredited and follows globally recognised good distribution practices. MEGA is presently constructing an office space in Myanmar at a cost of over Bt100 million, with completion expected this year.

Around Bt500 million has been set aside for the planned expansion in Thailand’s Bang Pu, next to the company’s existing manufacturing plant. This project, when complete, will include a research and development centre, a warehouse and a facility to manufacture liquids and thus enabling the addition of new class of prescription medicines and herbal products for kids to MEGA’s portfolio. Construction is ongoing with completion expected by 2020.

MEGA is also moving ahead with Mega-Malee, its joint venture with Malee Group Plc. Two products have already been launched under the DR. DRINK brand: AK-TIV and D-GEST.

In Thailand, the company formerly known as CIMB Principal Asset Management will be renamed Principal Asset Management.

US-based Principal Financial Group’s 15-year alliance with Malaysia’s CIMB has emerged as one of Asean’s leading asset-management firms with more than 80 billion ringgit (Bt600 billion) in assets under management across Southeast Asia, as of April 30.

Last year, Principal increased its ownership in the partnership to 60 per cent, with CIMB retaining 40 per cent.

Both parties continue to co-manage the businesses, building on the success of their alliance.

To reinforce their ongoing partnership, the company will now be marketed as Principal in alliance with CIMB, as they unite their regional businesses under a global vision of making financial progress a reality for clients of all income and portfolio sizes.

Principal and CIMB marked the announcement with a launch event in Bangkok on Monday. Principal launched its regional rebranding exercise on April 25 in Kuala Lumpur, followed by a launch in Jakarta on May 3.

“Helping clients achieve their lifetime financial goals is at the heart of what Principal stands for. A focus that has not changed since our very beginning 140 years ago,” said Thomas Cheong, president of Principal Asia.

“Now, we are reinforcing our global commitment to our Asian markets to help our customers save, plan and invest for their financial security through our retirement and long-term savings franchise,” he added.

“Though we are partners from different roots, and even histories, both CIMB and Principal are committed to the core mission of meeting our customers at every stage of their life, as we help them go forward on the path to greater financial independence and security,” said Adisorn Sermchaiwong, acting president and chief executive officer of CIMB Thai Bank.

“With Principal’s greater prominence in Thailand, we are able to enhance our wealth-management capabilities to empower customers with the right advice and tools they need to transform their financial lives,” said Jumpon Saimala, CEO of Principal Asset Management in Thailand.

“We are especially excited to integrate digital capabilities across our products and services, which will enable us to transform the client experience, improve our investment insights, and offer accessible asset allocation options to a wider customer base,” the chief executive added.