SAHA Group expects consumer confidence to rebound

Boonkiet Chokwatana, executive chairman of Saha Group’s manufacturing and trading arm ICC International, said that the overall economic situation would be better in the second half of this year.

Saha Group, a consumer products conglomerate, expects its overall revenues to increase by between 3-5 per cent to about Bt150 billion this year.

"The satisfactory government performance in the first six months of this year is a key positive factor that has boosted investment sentiment, especially in tourism. The country’s exports will show a good tendency of slight improvement in the second half of this year," Boonkiet said.

He added that the junta’s measures would start to bear fruit by the year’s end.

"Personally, I don't think the drought problem will have any significant impact on the purchasing power of Thai consumers," he said.

"Drought has become a regular problem we have been confronting every year. For this year, the government has granted better measures to deal with the drought problem when compared to previous years. "

Boonkiet described high household debt in the country as "a prolonged problem for Thailand" but not a serious threat to purchasing power.

He said that the overall market for consumer goods was stagnant in the first half of the year and would grow slightly this half as consumers started to have greater confidence.

He expects the overall market for consumer products to grow about 5 per cent this year compared to last year.

Promise to return happiness

"To deal with the current market situation, business players need to launch their marketing and promotional campaigns more proactively and continuously focus on differentiating their campaigns from others.

"They also need to focus on controlling their management costs by eliminating any non-necessary expenses," he said.

Boonkiet disagrees with the proposal to allow casinos to operate in the country. "Thailand can attract in-bound tourists without depending on the opening of casinos. We are also a Buddhist country and do not support any vices," he said.

"There are currently many underground gambling activities we cannot control. However, I believe that the government can control such illegal gambling business if they want to do it seriously."

Saha Group yesterday opened its 19th Saha Group Fair at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre as part of the group's promise to return happiness to Thais and help boost the economy.

The four-day event provides a great platform for businesspeople in Thailand and abroad to discover the group’s latest products and service innovations and meet potential business partners.