Asean integration to open more doors for Thai public relations companies, bosses say

Hasan Basar, managing director of the consulting agency Bangkok Public Relations, told The Nation that the AEC would allow Thai PR firms to leverage their skills better regionally, because previously big clients preferred to deal with firms based in Hong Kong or Singapore.
“If the AEC opens the door to more regional headquarters being located in Thailand, it will offer greater opportunities for Thai PR firms,” Basar said.
In addition, as large Thai corporations expand regionally, they will need Thailand-based communications partners to help them.
He added that PR companies that were strong in terms of strategy development and being able to convey the message, as well as those with good multilingual and multicultural capabilities, would be well positioned to benefit from these developments.
Basar believes that his company’s decades-long experience in working with the world’s largest corporations and big brands has prepared it well for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Other PR companies are also preparing for these upcoming challenges. For instance, last week Malaysia-based GO Communications Group formed a partnership with Thai PR agency DC Consultants as part of its ambitious expansion plan in Southeast Asia.
GO Communications chairman Bob Chua said that by the end of this year, the group would welcome two or three new partners in the region and would have as many as 10 regional partners in the next couple of years.
Currently GO Communications is negotiating with PR agencies in Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka for strategic acquisition deals worth about US$3 million to $5 million (Bt95 million to Bt158 million) each.
Danai Chanchaochai, chief executive officer at DC Consultants, said this partnership would allow his company to grow regionally as well as globally thanks to an increasing demand from local clients wanting |to expand to neighbouring |countries.
In a separate interview, Nimitz Modrakee, chairman of 124 Communications Consulting, said: “Regional economic integration will bring more investors and developers from overseas, particularly China.”
Nimitz added that this integration would encourage both local and multinational companies to expand, adding that his company expected a 40-per-cent surge in sales from new clients such as MayBank and Thailand Post, from Bt98 million last year.
Its current clients come from major industries such as information technology, telecommunications, aviation, logistics and transport, banking and finance, education, healthcare, construction, automobiles, branded lifestyle products, government, property development, retail and steel.