MFEC sees partnership tool for Thai tech industry’s growth as Chinese IT giant expanding overseas

Thai tech firm MFEC Plc believes that forging strategic partnerships is crucial for driving growth in Thailand’s tech sector, especially as Southeast Asia becomes a focus for information technology (IT) expansion.

Speaking to The Nation, MFEC chief executive officer Siriwat Vongjarukorn said Thai tech companies are facing challenges due to high costs, and this leads to increased product prices for customers.

Siriwat said operating costs for tech companies in Thailand are higher than in other countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, where they tend to see greater profits.

“The prices of [tech] products keep rising. When the costs for IT firms outpace their profit growth, it creates a burden that ultimately falls on the consumer. If costs are high, how can we reduce them except by passing them on to customers?” he explained.

The CEO noted, however, that this issue could be addressed through partnerships with global tech leaders, pointing to MFEC’s collaboration with Chinese giant Tencent Cloud.

At the beginning of September, MFEC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tencent Cloud to enhance their businesses jointly.

“We were looking to learn how to take care of our customers thoroughly, so we needed to find a strategic partner that is stable, has expertise, and can help us take care of our customers,” Siriwat said.

According to MFEC’s statement, this partnership is expected to develop new technologies that drive businesses through artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, empowering industries such as finance, health care, and retail.

The collaboration came as Tencent Cloud announced plans to expand its new palm verification technology and other AI products to the global market for the first time, and Southeast Asia is one of the regions targeted for this enlargement.

These expansion plans and product launches were unveiled during the Global Digital Ecosystem Summit, held in Shenzhen, China, from September 5 to 6.

Eric Li, Director of AI Global Commercialisation of Tencent Cloud, told The Nation that artificial intelligence has been of interest among businesses.

“Amid the excitement of AI, enterprises are increasingly looking to integrate AI to enhance business innovation, security, and efficiency. This is supported by a wave of digital transformation in Thailand and the wider region,” Li said.

He said he also sees rising demand from partners looking to expand globally, which reflects a positive environment for business growth for technology partners like Tencent Cloud.

Thailand enjoyed success in its tech industry on October 2 after the US-based technology giant Alphabet Inc and Google unveiled plans to invest US$1 billion (36 billion baht) to build the company’s first data centre and cloud regional centre in the kingdom.

The current Thai government, led by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, earlier announced it aimed to make Thailand become a “cloud hub” in the region by leveraging the use of cloud and AI technology to the fullest.

One key initiative of the administration is its “cloud first policy”, which will enhance government digital services, data governance, and cybersecurity by adopting flexible regulatory approaches suitable for the digital era.