SCG aims half of 2013-17 investment at Asean
Half of Siam Cement Group's investment of Bt200 billion from 2013 to 2017 will be in Asean countries to cash in on the Asean Economic Community in 2015, Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive officer of SCG, said yesterday.
The investment plan will be proposed to the SCG board for approval next month.
Once the second only to Singapore, Thailand has attracted less foreign direct investment than many other Asean countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, he said, calling for the government and private firms to invest more in research and development to increase competitiveness. To him, Asean as a whole presents a great deal of trade and investment opportuntiies for Thai investors. It would also attract investment from foreign giants and this requires Thailand to improve its attractiveness.
At the conference on "TMA Day 2012: Intelligence with Integrity" hosted by Thailand Management Association to mark its 48th anniversary, Kan said SCG had invested about Bt2 billion in R&D and innovation this year, up from Bt1.1 billion last year. The investment has increased its value-added products to 32 per cent of the total product line. These high-value-added products generate 50 per cent of revenue, he said at a seminar for TMA Day, held by the Thailand Management Association.
To support its expansion, SCG invested Bt40 million in 2004 in R&D to increase its high-value-added products, which at that time represented only 4 per cent of the company’s product lines. Currently the government invests only 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product in R&D, but needs to increase that proportion to 1 per cent, otherwise the country will lose competitiveness, he suggested.
At the same event, Tevin Vongvanich, president and CEO of PTT Exploration and Production, said the company also planned to invest more in technology and green products. To that end, PTTEP has appointed a chief technology officer. It plans to invest about 3 per cent of annual profits in technology and innovation and another 1.5-3 per cent in environmental protection and corporate social responsibility programmes, he said.
Somprasong Boonyachai, president and CEO of InTouch, formerly Shin Corp, said the company had focused on innovation across its value chain ranging from fund-raising, product development, distribution to customer services.
He noted that competitiveness in the future will be defined by product distinction, which would be supported by innovation.
