Food and beverage giant Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) has announced an expansion plan worth 18 billion baht, targeting alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, dairy products, food, and sustainability operations.

During a press briefing in Bangkok on Tuesday, chief executive Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi outlined the company’s six-year strategy, dubbed “Sustainable Growth to Passion 2030”, which focuses on consumer reach and digital transformation.

The first focus, “Reach Competitively”, aims to satisfy customers who tend to switch providers if they have to wait longer than 30 seconds.

The second focus, “Digital for Growth”, aligns with the rising use of smartphones.

Starting next year, ThaiBev will boost investment from 7-8 billion baht to 18 billion baht, said Prapakon Thongtheppairot, president and head of the spirits business.

Of this budget, 9.5 billion baht is earmarked for the non-alcoholic drinks segment, which includes the 8-billion-baht flagship Agri Valley Farm in Malaysia for
dairy production, he said.

ThaiBev will also invest 3 billion baht to establish a beer factory in Cambodia with initial capacity of 50 million litres, and 2.5 billion baht in the spirits business, said Prapakorn.

Finally, 1 billion baht will be used to expand the food business and 2 billion baht for
the group’s sustainability operations.

Songwit Sritham, chief executive of beer business (Thailand), said the Thai beer market is expected to recover to pre-Covid levels of 2 billion litres in 2025, thanks to the rapidly rebounding tourism industry.

“ThaiBev aims to maintain its market leader position next year by expanding its product portfolio to a mass premium group, including Chang Cold Brew, Federbräu, and Chang Unpasteurized,” he said.
Aggressive marketing with innovative technology would place Chang as the No 1 beer in the Thai market, he predicted.

Kosit Suksingha, chief executive of non-alcoholic beverage (Thailand), said he expected to see 2-digit annual growth for ThaiBev following investment in the Agri Valley Farm, citing the high profit margin for dairy products in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

He added that ThaiBev will next year introduce health products under the brand “F&N Nutriwell”, while launching its Oishi green tea and Tea Pot milk brands in Cambodia.

Source: The Nation

Construction of Saudi Arabia’s kilometer-high Jeddah Tower, which will become the world’s tallest skyscraper upon completion, has resumed almost seven years after work ground to a halt amid a kingdom-wide anti-corruption purge.

At a ceremony held on the site Wednesday, the development consortium behind the project, Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), announced that the tower is now scheduled to finish in 2028.

The 1,000-meter-tall (3,280-foot) skyscraper was around a third complete when, in 2017, several key figures — including the chairmen of both the main contractor and a conglomerate that co-financed the project — were detained in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s anti-graft campaign, which saw hundreds questioned on accusations of corruption.
Work continued after the arrests, though it came to a standstill in early 2018.

In January of that year, with growing concern about the purge’s economic fallout, JEC told CNN that construction would still go ahead, but a years-long hiatus ensued. Disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic also reportedly delayed plans to resume work.

This week’s ceremony was attended by one of the previously detained officials, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who is the chairman of Kingdom Holding Company, one the project’s main backers. Alwaleed, the Crown Prince’s cousin, was freed nearly three months after his arrest, though it is not known why and under what circumstances he was
released.

Following yesterday’s
ceremony, Alwaleed posted a video to X showing a digital rendering of the gleaming tower with the caption: “We’re back.”

Another key figure embroiled in the anti-corruption drive was Bakr bin Laden, chairman of the skyscraper’s main contractor, Saudi Binladen Group.

The construction mogul, who is the half-brother of Osama bin Laden, was reportedly released in 2021, three years after his arrest. His family’s firm, which also owns a stake in the Jeddah Tower project, has been rehired to complete the construction work.

Source: CNN

Foreign companies in China are reaching a “tipping point” on investing in the world’s second-largest economy as market access barriers, low growth and fierce competition cloud the outlook, according to the EU chamber of commerce in the country.

European companies complain that operating in China is becoming tougher because of a growing web of ill-defined data, cyber security and anti-espionage laws while a weak domestic economy means lower profits.

“For some companies, a tipping point has been met,” said Jens Eskelund, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, which released its annual position paper on Wednesday.

“Companies are beginning to conclude that, considering supply chain risks, considering anticipated lower profits in China, considering the continued barriers… that maybe other markets are becoming more competitive, more attractive,” Eskelund said.

China’s policymakers are grappling with a two-speed economy in which a property market slowdown has undermined domestic demand and created deflationary pressures, while exports have risen, helped by cut- throat competition among manufacturers.

Foreign businesses have long complained about barriers to market access in China, particularly in government procurement procedures, but in the past rapid economic growth encouraged them to continue investing.

Beijing has set a 5 per cent target for real GDP growth this year, still high for a large economy, with state banks supporting investment in high-tech industries.

But many foreign investors worry they are not seeing the benefits of this growth, with 70 per cent of respondents to a chamber survey saying overcapacity in their industries had driven down prices. About 44 per cent of respondents were also pessimistic about their likely profitability over the next two years, a record high.

Source: Financial Times