PTT eyes to become leading energy firm in ASEAN

BANGKOK, April 10 (TNA) - PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), Thailand's largest petroleum company, eyes to become a leading petroleum firm in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the foreseeable future. PTT Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President Pailin Chuchottaworn told a PTT shareholders’ meeting of the plan on Thursday, and the company is, thus, investing and studying investment projects in many countries in the region. Pailin noted that the company is selling energy products, earning foreign currencies and operating as many as 3,000 affiliates overseas, the lion’s share of which is in Singapore. Pailin said PTT has also established the PTT Regional Treasury Center in Singapore to supervise its international transactions in the region and the center handles 100 billion baht annually. Besides, PTT is also speeding up expanding its gas stations and related businesses, like Café Amazon coffee shops, in the region. PTT Vice President for International Marketing Buranin Rattanasombat revealed that PTT will invest 3 billion baht in opening new gas stations in Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines over the next five years, which should later increase the company's revenues by 10-15 per cent annually. According to the vice president, the number of PTT gas stations will then rise from 16 to 40-45 in Cambodia, from 22-23 to 65 in Laos, and from more than 70 to at least 90 in the Philippines. The vice president acknowledged PTT also plans to increase the number of its gas stations in Myanmar from one in Nay Pyi Taw to at least four, as there are considerable business opportunities in Myanmar, but admitting that Myanmar laws have not yet facilitated foreign investment. Meanwhile, the Thai Ministry of Commerce's Department of Business Development is identifying Thai businesses which need urgent improvement ahead of the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, especially small and medium-sized ones,and it is working out measures and plans to help enhance their competitiveness. The Ministry of Industry's Office of Industrial Economics has also assigned the Chula Unisearch Center of Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University to develop a system to evaluate Thai industries for the sake of their sustainable growth, covering their economic security, human resources, social responsibilities and environmental aspects. (TNA)