Joining the Dots

Issue06 : 23 June 2014

Mr Tokumitsu Kobayashi and JICA’s staff in Thailand
Mr Tokumitsu Kobayashi and AUN/SEED-Net’s staff in Thailand

Over a decade ago ten ASEAN countries embarked upon an engineering education journey. Now in its third phase, the project is bridging the gap between academia and industry.

Often the seeds of our future industrial growth are sown in the lecture halls and laboratories of today. This is certainly true of the AUN/SEED-Net, a technical cooperation project implemented by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Commenced in 2001, AUN/SEED-Net – or to give its full title the ASEAN University Network/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Development Network – comprises of 26 leading engineering institutions from ten ASEAN countries and 14 support universities from Japan. The project aims to increase the educational and research capacities of member institutions in ASEAN countries.

“Initially, leading universities in engineering from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan cooperated to build up human resources for the engineering fields through scholarships, collaborative research, field-wise seminars and the Japanese professor dispatch programme,” explains Tokumitsu Kobayashi, unit chief of AUN/SEED-Net.

Issue05 : 9 June 2014

Sometimes in the rush to exploit the growing youth market, companies can forget its more mature citizens. However, SCG shows that age is no barrier to commercial success.

Economic development and an ageing population are natural bedfellows. This applies as much to Thailand as to other countries around the world. The Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University has estimated that by 2015 approximately 20% of Thais will be over 60. This represents a potential mass market with very specific requirements.

One company that is keen to capitalise on this emerging opportunity is Siam Sanitary Ware Co. Ltd., which retails COTTO products and is part of SCG Thailand. The firm is currently number one in Thailand and third in ASEAN for bathroom fittings, with a projected turnover of 6 billion baht (US$183 million) for sanitary ware and fittings in 2014, up from 5.2 billion baht (US$158 million) last year. Around 30% is exported, mainly to other ASEAN countries.

At Architecture 14 Expo held late April in Bangkok, the company unveiled its new SCG Eldercare Solution range.

“Right now it [over 60s] is not a big market, but we think in the future it will be, the same as in Japan and Europe,” says Tanasak Sakariganon, managing director of Siam Sanitary Ware. “The people in ASEAN are living longer than before.”

Siam Sanitary Ware has been working with Mahidol University to develop its SCG Eldercare Solution range. While Siam Sanitary Ware provides the engineering know-how, the university provides an essential link to medical data.

“To make this [SCG Eldercare Solution range] successful we needed new knowledge,” says Sakariganon. “We needed medical knowledge about the physiology and anatomy of the elderly, and their biological and social changes.” This is why the company selected to partner with Mahidol University, which has two hospitals, a medical school and a medical engineering school.

Thailand’s footwear industry should rise to the challenge of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), so says the president of its leading association. Words by Mark Bibby Jackson

While some see the opening of the ASEAN region that will accompany the AEC as a threat, Kanchit Juntanapornchai relishes the opportunity it affords. The President of the Association of Thai Footwear Industrial Promotion (ATFIP) might be excused for feeling trepidatious towards the free trade agreement which could leave his 400 members defenceless from cheaper regional. He might, if it had not already occurred two decades ago.

The golden period for Thailand’s footwear industry was between 1985 and 1995, Juntanapornchai explains. Since then it has lost out to the cheaper labour costs in other regional countries, such as Vietnam, Indonesia and China. The fact that the industry still has an export value of US$1.8 billion, is something ATFIP’s president attributes to its good reputation overseas.

“Quality and delivery,” he says. “These are the two things that customers still believe in us and trust us.” The key markets for Thailand’s footwear exporters are the US and EU, with Denmark top of the list largely due to the ECCO brand that is made in Thailand. It is this which Juntanapornchai refers to as a “niche” market, rather than the mass market dominated by the aforementioned countries.

Following the downturn caused by the 2011 floods and subsequent Euro economic crisis, Juntanapornchai claims that business has stabilised. He is even predicting growth of some 5 to 10 percent for 2014.

Issue04 : 26 May 2014

This year will see a surge of airlines flying to the Thai capital, opening up a greater range of possibilities for the commercially aware business traveller.

The unprecedented boom in low cost air travel across Asia has been a particular boon to Thailand. The capital Bangkok was lucky enough to have a “spare” international airport to help cope with a surge in passenger numbers as carriers such as Air Asia, Nok Air and Jetstar Airways began offering budget conscious travellers fresh ways to come to Thailand.

“The rise of low cost carriers (LCCs) was a major contributor to Thailand’s tourist numbers surging 20 per cent between 2012 and 2013 but this increase would not have been possible without Don Mueang. After reopening in 2012, the “old” airport saw 16.5 million passengers through its gates in 2013. At the same time traffic through Bangkok’s “new” airport Suvarnabhumi which opened in 2006 fell only marginally, from 53 million in 2012 to 51.3 million in 2013.
Now there is a new style of LCC entering the market: medium-haul carriers that promise fresh options for people including business travellers wanting to travel in and out of Thailand. Up until now LCCs have been largely confined to short hops of one to three hours from Bangkok, including Thai domestic routes as well as to other major cities in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.

363069