Chinese firm in Thai JV for airship manufacture
The China-based Shanghai Vantage Airship Manufacturing Co has formed a joint venture with two Thai firms - TransAsia Alliances (TAA) and S-One Petroleum Chemicals - to jointly set up its new airship manufacturing base in Thailand with an estimated investm
Under the joint venture, Royal TransAsia Airship Co (RTA) has been set up to facilitate business operations in Thailand. It is also a part of SVAM’s planned overseas expansion programme for airship supply to Asean and other markets. It will also deliver to Thailand the first batch of CA-1000 series of airships, according to buyers’ specifications, at its own manufacturing facilities in China.
The consortium will build the airship base on a secured 700 acres of land in the vicinity of the proposed Master Development Plan of an integrated “Green High Tech” |hub in Satthahip, Chon Buri. The “green” innovative infrastructure development project site is about 20km from the commercial U-tapao Airport and 50km from the Juksamat deep-sea port.
The proposal to establish Asia’s largest airship base in Thailand is based on forecasts of domestic demand as well as for exports to neighbouring Asean countries and other markets.
The airships have wide applications and benefits in the defence and surveillance sectors (military, police and disaster relief), as well as the commercial telecommunication industry (radio, television, broadband, data and other telecommunication services) and commercial advertisements.
The consortium has received sales inquiries from several Asean countries for the airships and confirmed that the orders can be taken as the airships can be delivered in Thailand and /or China.
The consortium will next meet with related ministries of Thailand to secure relevant support for the proposed airship-manufacturing base in Thailand to be undertaken by RTA. After that it will submit its application to the Board of Investment (BOI) for investment incentives and licences and other approvals for this airship project, said Shunli Xu, SVAM chairman.
Xu and his Thai partners – KC Chan, the president of TransAsia Alliance and Saran Nithijin, managing director of S-One Petroleum Chemical – and their executives late last month met with Chatchad Sittipan, deputy minister of communications and General Chaidet Ongyanan at the Internal Security Operation Command, Ministry of Defence.
