Kan's wake-up call for country
Siam Cement Group's success story in becoming a company with high levels of innovation has never stopped mesmerising people.
At the recent CEO Innovation Forum 2015, SCG chief Kan Trakulhoon charmed the audience again. Kan wisely used the chance to inspire other companies to add value to their products or operational processes.
On the stage, he was equipped with a presentation that showed how high-value added products helped save SCG when the global economy faltered after the 2008 financial crisis.
To reach out to the best researchers, Kan told the audience about his extensive trips to universities in Japan, the United States and Europe. He also visited the DuPont headquarters in the States for three days.
“I didn’t expect it to allow any corporate CEO on the site for three days. Well, they didn’t think a CEO would want to spend three days there,” he said, laughing.
Kan produced a list of sample products including the SCG Heim modular home and told the audience he was building a new “house” with that technology. He insisted that innovation would continue to benefit the country. And higher profits meant more corporate tax revenue to the government, he said, aside from taxes on personal income and dividends At this point, Kan revealed he was taxed at the maximum rate for individuals – 35 per cent. But he warned that the push for higher levels of innovation across the board might go nowhere if other companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, were not fully aware of benefits.
He said it was necessary for Thailand to get out of the middle-income trap soon.
“When we are old and not rich, things will be difficult,” he said, apparently referring to the ageing population.
His ending was simple but it rung true. Nobody wants to be old and poor.
