To facilitate overseas trade for ASEAN businesses, Thai logistics companies are offering services and systems that are better than ever.

Leading logistics providers joined the TILOG-LOGISTIX 2015 in September to exhibit the latest technology from the logistics industry. The fair, which was held at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre, saw logistics companies from more than 25 countries participating to enhance the logistics network in ASEAN +6.

“The objective of the fair is to push Thailand to be the regional logistics centre, providing logistics and supply chain services which will help companies to undertake market expansion smoothly and effectively,” says Sittisak Anantaprayoon, managing director of Reed Tradex, organiser of the TILOG-LOGISTIX 2015.

Among the wide range of activities at the fair were the ASEAN +6 Trade Logistics Connectivity Symposium 2015, business matching services and the presentation of the Excellent Logistics Management Award (ELMA) to the best in the industry.

Jitchai Nimitpanya, CEO of ELMA winner Pacific Cold Storage, explained the company’s success and its plan on expanding into ASEAN countries.

“I’m very happy [to win the award] and I would like to thank the DITP for giving Pacific Cold Storage this chance,” said Nimitpanya, “As for the selection process, the award committee carefully went through our report and inspected our warehouses. It took around a month for the entire judging process. We will take the comments from the committee to develop our business to provide better services to our clients.”

Nimitpanya revealed that though Pacific Cold Storage started out as a small company, it now has a warehouse capacity of 40,000 tonnes and offers a wide range of warehousing and logistics services including quality control systems, room-temperature, chilled and frozen storage, and warehouse management system technology using barcode scanning and radio-frequency identification (RFID).

According to Nimitpanya, another driving factor behind the company’s success is its committed workforce. “Our team is very strong and they are always ready to respond to clients’ needs,” he says.

To align with the DITP’s strategy of promoting Thailand to become a logistics hub in ASEAN +6, the company began its expansion into neighbouring countries two years ago.

“The company is building warehouses in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar,” says Nimitpanya. “We have plans to sign a joint venture with companies in the Philippines and India as it’s a good opportunity for Thais to send products to these countries. However, our main focus for exports is still in ASEAN.”

Words by Sirinuch Borsub