The platform features various management tools, such as drug retail management, stock management, patient information records and accounting. It will also offer back office management to allow pharmacies to directly order drugs from around 25 pharmaceutical manufactures in real time. With the aim of providing an easy and accessible platform, it will also allow customers or patients to pay the cost of drugs via e-payment, including QR code and Rabbit Line Pay. It also runs on cloud computing. The platform also supports “Good Pharmacy Practice” (GPP), a standard that responds to the needs of the people who use the pharmacist’s services to provide optimal, evidence-based care.

“We started in the healthcare business three years ago, with the aim to help pharmacy shops utilise information technology and solutions to support their business,” explained Teera. Each day about 2 million Thais walk in to one of 24,000 pharmacies nationwide to purchase pills and other drugs, but most of the shops do not currently use IT to support their business, he said.

“We therefore spent around six months developing the e-pharmacy platform to support pharmacies nationwide. The platform also serves as an e-marketplace between drug stores and drug manufacturers,” said Teera.

ArinCare is also partnering Samitivej Hospital to refer patients to the hospital, with the service designed for those customers who are ill and want to meet the doctor at the hospital.

The pharmacy, for its part, can exchange the patient’s drug information with the hospital, as well as refer a patient to the hospital. As a result, a patient does not need to repeatedly inform the doctor whenever they go to hospital or the history of the medication they have used. However, the doctor will be able to access patient information through a one-time password. The platform will also connect with an insurance company in the next two years.

Teera said that around 2,700 pharmacies nationwide currently use the e-pharmacy platform, and expect around 40 per cent growth to 4,000 shops in 2020. The firm is also planning to offer the platform to the international market, including India and Indonesia, within the next two years.

“We want to improve healthcare services in the country and create community-based healthcare ecosystem to improve the quality of life for Thai people as a whole,” said Teera.

Soopachai Nillawan, chief executive of NEN360 Co Ltd, together with Kritthi Manolayakun, managing director of Music Application JOOX and Warawut Jenthanakul, chief executive of Zense Entertainment Co Ltd, announced the launch of eight new singles of the last eight contestants at the Country Idol Season 1 program to be listened at the first place on the JOOX application music from today onwards. The new single launch will be conducted along with activities set to invite votes “Country Idol”, the first of Thailand through music application JOOX. By this project, NEN 360 is responsible for music production, including the development and in charge for the promotion of the group of eight finalists from the Country Idol Season 1 program to become full professional singers.

CP Foods and BKP encourage suppliers to achieve sustainable labour practices

Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CP Foods) and its subsidiary Bangkok Produce Merchandising PCL (BKP) have teamed up with Thailand’s Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to improve labour practice of local suppliers, ensuring traceability and sustainability of both companies’ supply chain.

BKP, which provided the raw materials for CP Foods, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to jointly develop stakeholders in its supply chain to apply sustainable practices for workers under “The Joint Development Project for Suppliers to Achieve Thai Labour Standard”.

The public-private project aims at improving well-being of workers as well as ensuring a fair treatment toward all labours in Thailand.

Wiwat Tanhong, Director General of the Department, said the department will arrange training and workshop to CP Foods’ suppliers. The project will focus on providing concerned knowledge on labour management including recruitment and selection, working hours, welfare and benefits, fair practices as well as child labour, forced labour and human-trafficking protection. In addition, it will also encourage those companies to realize more on safety environment in line with Thai Labour Standard (TLS).

“The government has a clear goal to develop efficiency and effectiveness of Thai labour to meet with Thai laws and international labour standards. We aim to upgrade their living standards and strengthen suppliers’ businesses through sustainable operation focusing on labour management system under TLS. This will create sustainable benefits to Thailand in term of economy, society and export competitiveness in global arena,” he noted.

In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Michel said Metro was looking into expanding to Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Taunggyi and other prominent cities in Myanmar in the next few months, a plan that is buoyed by the company’s strong performance since its entry in March.

“We are constantly expanding our customer base and have set a very ambitious target. You will see good news in the very near future,” he predicted.

“The market response to our launch has been absolutely phenomenal. We have experienced huge customer interest in what we are doing, and have seen an enormous amount of new customers coming [to the Metro booth at the Food and Hotel Myanmar 2019].”

According to Michel, the Myanmar operation now has more than 300 HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and caterers) as customers, with Metro delivering fresh and high-quality food to them on a daily basis.

“We are now on the right track, and will continue to keep up the good work and will try to accelerate our growth,” he said.

“By some miracle, the way we engage with the market and customers, the feedback we are receiving shows pure market leadership for us, particularly in the HoReCa segment.”

Michel said the majority of Metro’s customers are local companies, including mega-hotel groups and big names as well as small and medium-sized enterprises. Currently, more than 2,500 |products are available in the market, and Michel foresees a substantial increase in the firm’s product line.

“We would like to double it in the next few months, but that depends on market demand. We don’t believe that will be an issue, because demand for our products is on the rise in Myanmar,” he said.

“We are very focused on Myanmar – on HoReCa as well as the trade segment and small companies. We are here in a highly emerging market, and do not underestimate its potential. We are always looking at how to achieve our target by working closely with local partners and our customer base.”

Michel said Metro will focus on building a successful business in Myanmar, though it needs to be aware of the nation’s political environment.

“We really drive for innovation, progress and market leadership. Myanmar as a country has significant opportunities in itself. But it will require someone to take leadership to innovate for the market to grow further … this is what we are doing,” he said.

Wide range of products

“We are conducting general and modern trade. This will enable our customer base to benefit from a wide range of products. We help customers to spend more time on their own businesses, focus on their own vision and strategies, while we take care of all food and non-food items they require as well as delivery to their businesses.”

The firm has a 5,800-square-metre warehouse in the Thilawa special economic zone where incoming goods are stored and packed in compliance with food safety standards for delivery to customers. For logistics, it has partnered with Kospa, a joint venture between Yoma Strategic Holdings and Japan’s Kokubu & Co.

“In terms of logistics, we aim to apply our framework and quality standards. Kospa is a very strong partner, so we do not foresee any changes,” he said.

The firm now has 150 employees in Myanmar, and 92 per cent of them are locals. Michel is confident the company could easily double or triple the number of employees in the next few years.

To date, the firm has invested around 10 million euros (Bt354 million), and will keep boosting its investment in Myanmar, he added.

“At the moment, a lot of investment is going into technology, as we are driving for market leadership in e-commerce as well as in our physical expansion,” he said.

Michel said the company tries to source at least 70 to 75 per cent of its products locally, while the remainder is imported from different countries, with a focus on neighbouring nations, including Thailand.

Earlier this year, Metro Wholesale Myanmar secured a US$20 million (Bt634 million) loan from International Finance Corporation, which Michel said is a great partner.

“There are a lot more opportunities for collaboration with IFC beyond their financing facilities. Working with IFC on these facilities has been very positive for us and it enables us to drive our market expansion in terms of geographical coverage,” he said.

Michel said Metro was constantly looking at strategic partnerships, adding that openness to innovation, transparency and consistency |were critical to the selection of |partners.

“We are in active discussions with several local partners to accelerate the expansion of our footprint. We are very excited about their interest, and are confident that we will be successful,” he said.

He said King Power offered a higher return to AOT than the other two bidders: a joint venture between Bangkok Airways and Lotte Duty Free, and a joint venture of the Royal Orchid Hotel (Thailand) group.

“The winner offers more revenue to the AOT than the other competitors, and also a return higher than the AOT’s earlier estimate,” he said.

He added that the AOT bid committee would propose King Power as the bid winner for the company’s revenue review committee’s consideration on Wednesday.

If approved, that panel will submit the proposal to AOT’s board for final approval on June 19.

As to the final scores, King Power was awarded 96 out of 100 by the bid committee, followed by the Royal Orchid Hotel (Thailand) joint-venture group with 86, and the Bangkok Airways JV group with 84, Wichai said.

The “Partnership Celebration for the Oil Terminal and Retail Business Development” between PTTOR and Brighter Energy Company Limited and Brighter Energy Retail Co Ltd, both subsidiaries of Kanbawza (KBZ) Group, was held at the Lotte Hotel in Yangon.

Auttapol Rerkpiboon, chairman of PTTOR, said his company – the flagship of PTT Group in oil and retail business – aimed to be a leading Thai global brand enriching community values through oil, retail and related businesses, inclusively with all stakeholders to achieve sustainable growth together.

The agreements announced cover two joint projects.

One is the development of an oil terminal with Brighter Energy, which includes the procurement of petroleum products, the management of jetty, oil-storage terminal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) filling plants and wholesale business of petroleum products.

Due to be completed in 2021, the project will become the largest oil terminal in Myanmar, with a capacity of 1 million barrels of oil and 4,500 tonnes of LPG.

The other project is a retail business expansion with Brighter Energy Retail, for which successful brands under PTTOR will be introduced in Myanmar to provide local consumers with what Auttapol said would be a “notable retail experience”.

These brands include PTT Station, LPG or Cooking Gas, and Café Amazon.

He added that the concept of the joint operation of PTT stations in Myanmar remained the “Living Community”, as in Thailand where PTTOR cooperates with local vendors, communities and small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their businesses together with PTT station expansion.

In Myanmar, the company plans to expand to 70 stations within 2023, PTTOR’s chairman added.

Currently, PTTOR operates over 2,000 PTT stations in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines.

As for the LPG or Cooking Gas unit, PTTOR will tap the local market highlighting product quality and safety, with a sales target of 1,000 tonnes per month.

In addition, PTTOR will focus on the operation of Café Amazon and expects the business to substantially grow in line with rising coffee consumption among the Myanmar population.

In Myanmar, there are currently seven branches, and the company plans to increase to 100 branches by 2023.

Café Amazon now has more than 2,800 branches in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore and Oman.

The company is a provider of integrated solutions covering a full range of services from ideation, research/design, consultancy, project management and prototyping to fabrication, implementation/installation, construction, logistics support and after-sales services

It is a joint venture between Singapore-based Kingsmen Group, a 10 per cent stake holder and Thailand-based CMTI Co Ltd, which owns 90 per cent of the company.

Globally, Sunisa said the Kingsmen Group has invested in 21 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, the US, and some Middle East countries. Kingsmen CMTI Plc is expanding in Myanmar and Cambodia on its own, catering to the growing demand for decoration exhibitions and interior design work at commercial properties such as luxury hotels, retail premises and office buildings in the two countries. The Myanmar and Cambodian governments have offered incentives and widened access to foreign investors.

Kingsmen CMTI made its entry into Myanmar five years ago, setting up a subsidiary with a registered capital of US$300,000 (Bt9.37 million).

The company generated Bt27.5 million in total revenue at the end of 2018, a jump of 43.97 per cent from Bt19.1 million in the previous year.

Most of its customers in Myanmar are Thai investors planning to expand their hotel and retail portfolio in the country, accounting for 80 per cent of the company’s total revenue with income from decoration and design of exhibition booths making up the balance. In Cambodia, the company established Kingsmen CMTI (Cambodia) Co Ltd last year with a registered capital of $300,000.

“We have strengthened our position in Cambodia with the new investment in view of Thai and global brands expanding their presence in the country, including Ralph Lauren, Starbucks, Pizza Company and S&P.

The openings of new business premises will come with growing demand for the company’s services in the areas of decoration, construction and design,” Sunisa said.

Nontwaris Jatepiyawat, director of Kingsmen CMTI (Cambodia) Co Ltd said the company generated total revenue of Bt8 million in its first year of operation. It is looking to achieve Bt20 million this year and Bt30 million in 2020 amid strong growth in major Cambodian cities Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville.

With the expansion in Myanmar and Cambodia, Kingsmen CMTI Plc recorded total revenue of Bt2.13 billion at the end of last year, an increase of 86.8 per cent from Bt1.14 billion for 2017.

“The surge in revenue can be attributed to our robust business performance in Thailand and overseas,” Sunisa said.

Jirawuth Suwanna-arj, director/minister counsellor (Commercial) of International Trade Promotion Department of Commerce Ministry, said foreign direct investment in Cambodia has been growing strongly since 2013.

In 2017, the country got $629.7 million in foreign direct investment, up 9.12 per cent from the previous year.

Foreign investment reached $113.9 million in the first quarter of the year, a 33.63 per cent increase from same period year-on year, according to a report from the Cambodia Investment Board.

“China was the first country to expand investment in Cambodia, followed by South Korea, and UK. Thailand ranked ninth in terms of foreign investments in the country.

Cambodia remains attractive to foreign investors although the EU will revise its GSP for the country this year,” Jirawth said.