LeKise Lighting eyes AEC
LeKise Lighting plans to expand its distribution networks and investments in potential Southeast Asian markets to benefit from the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which will be fully effective in 2015.
However, the company wants the government to draw up a clear road map on how it will support the Thai business sector, especially small and medium-sized companies, as they prepare to cash in on the coming trade liberalisation in the region.
The company wants to grow the export proportion of LeKise brand lighting products from 20 per cent currently to about 50 per cent by 2018.
“We want to appoint local distributors for our LeKise brand in all Asean members by 2015,” said chief executive officer Somnuk Ovuthitham.
He said the company currently had local distributors for LeKise lighting products in Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and outside Asean in Dubai, Syria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
“We plan to set up our own operation in charge of sales and distribution first in Myanmar,” Somnuk said.
The company is also interested in setting up a factory for lighting and related products in Indonesia to serve the huge domestic market in the country of more than 200 million.
He said that with its manufacturing facility in Samut Sakhon, the company had produced lighting products for more than 50 brands via original equipment manufacturing (OEM) contracts and exported to about 40 markets around the world.
However, the company has reduced the OEM contribution from almost 90 per cent four years ago to 60 per cent now.
“With the AEC, we will change our business strategy from export to making investments in particular potential markets in the region,” Somnuk said.
He said the company’s packaging affiliate Lee Fibre Board, which produces sheet boards, was considering setting up factories in potential markets such as Myanmar and Vietnam in the near future.
LeKise Lighting and Lee Fibre Board will spend a combined budget of more than Bt300 million in overseas investments in the next three years. Somnuk said LeKise Lighting last year took over Dyno Electric, a local manufacturer of electrical appliances, in a significant shift of the company from a lighting to an electronics firm.
