Firms sing praises of business matching
BUSINESS MATCHING helps to save costs and to find the right local partners for Thai operators looking to leap overseas especially in the AEC+3, which is the new growth opportunity, businesspeople say.
About 350 businesses from Thailand, Japan, China, Cambodia and Myanmar yesterday participated in a business-matching function organised by Kasikornbank.
They hope the activity will help them open new markets.
It was the first time for Khaolaor Laboratories, a Thai herbal-product manufacturer, which wanted to meet importers and distributors, its managing director Watcharapong Pongboriboon said.
The company met Japanese buyers that might help the company resume exporting to the Japanese market.
It wants foreign markets to increase from 15 per cent of sales now to 20 per cent as before.
Asean is the future of his company. Asean harmonisation is bringing the 10 countries together to use the same regulations, which means that products under licence will benefit from sales to those markets.
Khaolaor products have been certified by the Food and Drug Administration, which adds value to them and makes them more attractive to buyers, he said.
Sangsul Pitthayanukul, chief executive officer of Siam Health Group, a supplier of skincare products, said business matching helped his company save costs because in the first step in going abroad, he had to spend his own money to introduce products during overseas roadshows.
A hospital operator from Japan became seriously interested in Siam Health Group’s products after joining the event.
The company will make an appointment with the new contacts and show them its products before starting actual trading.
The key to success of Siam Health Group is not only having innovative products but also innovative marketing and processes, which are essential for reinforcing its competitiveness in global markets.
The company is focusing on the European market. It recently contracted an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in Germany to use the company’s formulas. Having a manufacturing base in Germany makes it easier for the company to sell skincare and healthcare products in European markets.
In five to 10 years, the international market should account for 80 per cent of sales, quadruple today’s share, Sangsul said.
Jiraphan Lertwassana, sales and marketing manager for NSL Foods, a Thai OEM of high-quality bakery products, said the company could open new markets from joining the business-matching party.
It will supply bakery products to Vietnam, which is a new market for the company.
Vietnamese appreciate high-quality baked goods but there is not much variety, so the company sees a chance to grow in this market, whose economy is expanding quickly along with the number of middle-income consumers.
Besides hosting the business-matching activity, KBank has signed memoranda of understanding with the chambers of commerce and trade associations from all 10 member states of the Asean Economic Community plus its three major trade and investment partners (China, Japan and South Korea) to boost regional business opportunities.
Banthoon Lamsam, chairman and CEO of KBank, said that in the global market, there were many sellers but few buyers because purchasing power is weak from overspending in the past several years.
Business matching is an event that helps both sellers and buyers to meet. Before trading, they should get to know each other.
Investment, which should be a key engine of the Thai economy, has witnessed many limited conditions such as concern for the environment and fear of foreign investors taking advantage of this country. That made the infrastructure projects progress slower than expected, Banthoon said.
The Thai economic slowdown is a result of the conflicts of humans, he claimed. The drought is also an example of the failure of water management of humans, besides the practice of not complying with regulations.
Financial institutions have sufficient power to support businesses, but borrowers – especially those in the middle to low segments – have little ability to get loans.
If banks get too aggressive, risks will come to haunt them, he said.
The upper segment including mega-projects has the ability to borrow, but national projects have problems with environmental issues, and some stimulus measures that aimed to spur cash flows in the economy have proceeded sluggishly because of regulations, the banker said. Therefore, the Thai economic recovery is fragile and sensitive.
If the economic situation in the remaining quarters of this year remains the same as in the first quarter, the country will face very challenging tasks to resolve. The export sector will witness a drop for another year, he said.
