Vietnam seen as key market in SCG's regional strategy
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Siam Cement Group (SCG) considers Vietnam a key market in its strategy to expand investment in Southeast Asia.
SCG president and chief executive Kan Trakulhoon said Vietnam had always been an important market in the group’s business strategy in the Asean region since the group entered the country in 1992.
“We will continue our investment in this potential market, focusing on cement, building materials, paper and chemicals,” he stressed.
SCG currently has 19 affiliates in Vietnam, which have total assets worth US$615 million (Bt19.8 billion). The group posted 6.7 trillion dong (Bt10 billion) in sales revenue in the Vietnamese market in 2012, an 11-per-cent surge from a year earlier.
In the first half of 2013, the figure saw a year-on-year rise of 43 per cent to hit 4.9 trillion dong.
Last December, the Thai group paid 5.12 trillion dong for 85 per cent of Prime Group, a leading building-materials producer in Vietnam, a strategic step to consolidate its competitiveness in Asean.
Kan noted significant changes in Vietnam’s investment and business environment.
“Vietnam is an emerging economy with a large and dynamic population and a good business environment. Remarkably, we have seen its efforts in building an Asean Economic Community. In this context, Vietnam has many favourable factors for our upcoming plans,” he said.
SCG is also seeking other opportunities in Vietnam. Last year, the group and Thai Plastics and Chemicals (TPC) entered a joint venture with QPI Vietnam (a subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum International), the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Vietnam National Chemicals Group (VinaChem) to invest in a petroleum project in the country.
SCG and TPC own 28 and 18 per cent of the project respectively. The remaining shares belong to Vietnamese businesses. It is scheduled to become operational in the next few years.
Besides Vietnam, the Thai group is eyeing other markets in Southeast Asia.
