FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

At A Glance

At A Glance

THAI UNION GROUP SECURES MAJOR AWARDS FOR THAILAND

Thai Union Group PCL, a leader in the global seafood business, has won major awards in several Thailand categories in the 18th annual Asia’s Best Managed Companies survey by FinanceAsia.
In a poll of 140 portfolio managers and buy-side analysts around the world, Thai Union was placed first for “Most Committed to Corporate Governance” and “Best at Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Together with the top two categories, Thai Union was ranked second for “Best CEO” (Thiraphong Chansiri), “Best CFO” (Joerg Ayrle), “Best Managed Company”, and “Best at Investor Relations.”
Thai Union Group’s CEO, Thiraphong Chansiri, commented that the awards reflected investors trust and confidence in Thai Union. 
“I’m very proud that Thai Union’s hard work, especially on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, has been acknowledged by the investor community. We will continue to embrace our role as a leader for positive change, while striving for strong business growth,” said Chansiri.
Last year, Chansiri and Ayrle were also recognized as the third Best CEO and third Best CFO, respectively, in the consumer/staples sector of the Institutional Investor’s 2017 poll.
Thai Union was also named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index (DJSI) for the fourth consecutive year in 2017, as well as named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.

 SMART WINDOW DISPLAYS VIEW TO BLIND PASSENGERS

From rolling hills to mountain ranges, views make any road trip memorable, but for blind passengers this is part of the experience that they miss. 
Ford’s prototype smart car window aims to change this – by enabling blind or partially-sighted people to visualise passing scenery through touch.
 Feel The View takes pictures that are turned into high-contrast monochrome images. These are then reproduced on the glass using special LEDs. 
 By touching the image, different shades of grey vibrate with a range of 255 intensities, allowing passengers to touch the scene and rebuild in their mind the landscape in front of them. 
Feel The View was conceived and developed by Ford of Italy and GTB Roma, in collaboration with Aedo – an Italian start-up that specialises in devices for the visually impaired.
 “We seek to make people’s lives better and this was a fantastic opportunity to help blind passengers experience a great aspect of driving. The technology is advanced, but the concept is simple – and could turn mundane journeys into truly memorable ones," said Marco Saffi, Ford/Italy.

SCB EXPANDS FINTECH VENTURE CAPITAL PROGRAMME TO $100M 

Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), through its FinTech investment arm Digital Ventures Co Ltd, has increased its corporate venture capital |fund by US$50 million, bringing the fund’s |total capital base to US$100 million and |making it the largest venture capital fund in Thailand. 
The bank also signalled a shift in focus from fund-of-fund investment towards more direct investment to support its digital transformation strategy.
 Arak Sutivong, SCB chief financial officer and chief strategy officer, said that during the past two years, SCB has achieved significant investment milestones and established strategic partnerships with leading venture capital funds and startups. 
“With this success, we have expanded our access to critical technologies. At present, we have engaged with over 800 startups and more than 60 venture capital funds in nearly 30 countries. 
“This has provided us unparalleled opportunity to learn about, connect with, and invest in technologies ranging from blockchain to quantum computing to geolocation. 
“Such technologies add tremendous value to our business operations and to customers, and play an essential role in SCB’s digital transformation. 
Our past success has given us the confidence to double our venture capital fund size from US$50 million (Bt1.75 billion) to a total of US$100 million (over Bt3 billion).”
Polapat Arkkrapridi, managing director, corporate venture capital, Digital Ventures Co Ltd said that the increased capital base will allow us to continue sourcing and investing in technologies vital to SCB’s transformation strategy and innovation initiatives. 
Such innovations will address new business challenges and open up new opportunities for us to introduce groundbreaking products and services to the bank’s retail and corporate customers.
Digital Ventures’ venture capital strategy has focused on building networks and relationships with key startups, leading venture capital funds, and fintech thought leaders around the world, and on promoting knowledge sharing with SCB management and corporate customers through its annual Faster Future Forum, as well as regular workshops and seminars.

 ONE-OFF CAR TO TOAST THE ROYAL WEDDING 

MINI is to celebrate the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with a one-off MINI Hatch designed specifically to commemorate the special occasion and to be donated to one of the couple’s chosen charities. 
After the wedding day on 19 May, this one-of-a-kind MINI will be handed over to The |Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA) for public auction.
“As an iconic British brand with almost 60 years of history in the UK, we are pleased to mark the royal wedding with this special charitable gift,” explains Oliver Heilmer, Head of MINI Design.
“The MINI Design team has created a one-off MINI Hatch for the occasion. Its specially designed roof graphic combines with 3D-printed personalised interior and exterior details as well as special embroidery to make this a MINI like no other.”
 

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