CP to enhance global presence

Agribusiness conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group says it will focus on digitisation of its working process, developing a pool of talents to embrace more innovations to strengthen its edge and to sustain its longterm growth in the global market.
In a recent interview with The Nation Group, CP Group chief executive officer Suphachai Chearavanont said that corporation’s businesses should move together to digitise their operating and management processes and their sales operations, plus the use of data analytics, in order to boost operational efficiency and workforce productivity.
This is part of a fiveyear business plan he is drawing up.
Moreover, the group will focus more on both research and development and investment in promising tech startups to add value to its businesses, while developing talent locally and poolฌing the talents of its global operations.
The group will also embrace more innovation, robotics, and the digital revolution to transform the conglomerate into “CP 4.0”. This in line with a global trend in the business sector, which centres on using advanced technologies and innovations to add value to businesses.
CP has around 13 business groups, ranging from those in agriฌcultural industry to telecommunications, finance and banking. It has invested in 16 countries with more than 200 subsidiaries and conducts trade in more than 100 countries across the world.

Excellence centres
Suphachai is also cochairman of a publicprivate joint workฌing panel on basic education and leadership development under the Pracha Rath initiative. He is the leader of the private team in the panel.
Pracha Rath is a publicprivate partnership project initiatฌed by the militaryled regime of Prime Minister General Prayut Chanocha with the aim of boosting the economy and income of local communities throughout the Kingdom.
As part of the Pracha Rath scheme, Suphachai has suggestฌed a Bt75billion fiveyear budget for national R&D by estabฌlishing “excellence centres” among universities that can interฌact with the private sector under government support. These would be in 14 disciplines with economic potential including biotechnology, nanotechnology, digital technology and robotฌics.
These excellence centres would be equipped with stateoftheart facilities, ability to recruit topnotch scientists and researchers from all over the world, and carry out projects.
Still under debate is how the government and private sector would share the funding. Suphachai said the initiative needed a serious push from the government to make it happen in order to encourage the private sector to make financial commitments.