P&G vows to stay in Kingdom after the deluge
US-based Procter & Gamble says the flood crisis has not affected its commitment to long-term investment in Thailand.
Raul Falcon, managing director of Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand), said the company had invested in the Kingdom for almost 15 years. Thailand is now the P&G’s largest manufacturing centre in Asia for beauty-care products.
The country is still appealing for future investment by the company because of its infrastructure and skilled labour.
“Thailand is one of the important manufacturing bases for P&G,” he said.
So far, P&G’s factory in Wellgrow Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao province has not been hit by flooding. The plant has put many protective measures in place. Also, the factory has enough inventory of beauty-care products to serve the market for two or three months. ‘‘In the worst-case scenario, if our factory is flooded, our parent operation in the US is still committed to continue its investment in Thailand, which is our largest beauty-manufacturing base in Asia,” he said.
The company is currently running two shifts a day to ensure enough capacity to serve customer demand in the domestic market.
At the same time, the company has arranged with traditional and modern trade to deliver products as fast as possible through new distribution channels such as rail. Also, the company has increased its delivery frequency to a daily basis to prevent shortages.
P&G has no plan to increase its prices though the demand for many products such as shampoo, soap and snacks is increasing significantly.
The company expects its sales this year to grow by double digits.
