Siemens eyes chunk of infrastructure boom in Asean
ASEAN is becoming an increasingly important market for Siemens Mobility as countries in the region, including Thailand, boost their investments in infrastructure, said Sabrina Soussan, chief executive officer of the mobility division of Siemens AG.
“Our mobility business has been doing business in Asean since 1994 with its entry into Thailand and we have since expanded to others countries in Asean, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam,” Soussan said in an interview with The Nation recently.
“We see strong demand in the Asean market now that the countries in region have been expanding their investments to develop infrastructure.”
Aside from Thailand, she highlighted Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for infrastructure spending.
A report from the Asian Development Bank estimates that Asia will need to invest US$1.7 trillion a year on infrastructure until 2030 to maintain its growth momentum, tackle poverty, and respond to climate change. The report examines how much the region has been investing in infrastructure and what will likely be needed until 2030. It also analyses the challenges shaping future infrastructure investment and development.
As of September 30, 2017, Siemens Group recorded total revenue of 83 billion euros, with up to 19 per cent of that coming from Asia and Australia; 39 per cent from Europe (excluding Germany), Africa and the Middle East; 28 per cent from America, and 13 per cent from German.
The mobility business unit generated revenue of as much as 10 per cent for the group, with the rest coming from healthcare (16 per cent), process industries and drives (11 per cent), digital factory (13 per cent), power and gas (18 per cent), energy management (15 per cent), building technologies (8 per cent) and renewable energy (9 per cent).
Soussan said that in Thailand, the company provides maintenance services and supply train systems and training, with 450 maintenance staff in Thailand. The company also provides services to others countries in Asean.
When Thailand firms up plans for the construction of a high-speed train system, the company would be interested to supply both the high-speed train and system for Thai companies, Soussan said
“We are confident in the potential of Thailand as strong market in the region,” she said.
Currently, Siemens Mobility in Thailand has a total backlog to supply rail infrastructure and trains for Thai firms that is worth up to 1 billion euros. Deliveries of the trains to Thai companies will begin this year and extend until 2020, said Tomasz Mazur, senior vice president country division lead of Siemens’ mobility division. The Thai customers include Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc, Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc.
In Singapore, Siemens supplies and installs the complete medium voltage and traction power supply system as well as the signalling and train control system for the country’s new metro line. Some of the substations, installed with inverters, are capable of feeding surplus energy back into the power supply network, improving both energy efficiency and environmental compatibility, Soussan said.
