Panasonic seeks BoI incentives for car-entertainment plant
Panasonic Group has asked the Board of Investment to approve its plans to build a manufacturing plant to produce car entertainment and visual-display products.
The plant, to be built out over the next two years, would make Thailand one of Panasonic's export supply bases for those products."Despite political uncertainty, we are committed to investing in Thailand. We are quite confident in the great potential of Thailand as the centre of commerce in this region," said Daizo Ito, chief executive of Panasonic Group in Thailand. "I don't have any worries about the current political conflicts." Panasonic has a 30-per-cent share of the global car-audio market, according to Ito. The company sells car audio and other in-car entertainment products to Japanese auto-makers like Toyota, Mazda, Honda and Nissan. "As a consumer electronics maker, we already enjoy great benefits from the Board of Investment, which has helped us reduce the import duties we pay on raw materials and parts," said Ito. He said Thailand had great potential to be an automotive industry hub and Panasonic would like to tap into the sector as it grows. According to Ito, domestic demand for consumer electronics, including audio-visual products and home appliances, is expected to grow 3 per cent this year to Bt42.7 billion and Bt39.6 billion, respectively. "Thailand's consumer electronics products have experienced robust growth in the past few years. In fiscal year 2005 alone, ending March this year, Panasonic enjoyed more than Bt16.6 billion worth of domestic sales, up 19 per cent over 2004," Ito said. Audio-visual products accounted for Bt10.6 billion of the sales and home appliances the rest. Panasonic aims to grow its revenue 9 per cent in fiscal year 2006 to Bt18.2 billion, comprised of Bt11.4 billion in audio-visual product and battery sales, and Bt6.8 billion from home appliances. The company yesterday also announced that it had just opened its Bt100-million first-ever activity and entertainment centre "Panasonic Life Square" in Bangkok. Located in a 541-square-metre space on the first floor of the Orakarn Building on Chidlom Road, the newly opened centre will display all of the company's latest offerings in an area where customers are allowed to touch and experience the latest innovations and technologies. Panasonic will this year launch a whole host of new audio-visual products and home appliances. The company will introduce six new plasma television models, four new models of LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions, 12 new flat-screen televisions, six new video cameras and eight new digital cameras. It will also introduce 13 new air-conditioner models, 12 new two-door refrigerators and 10 new washing machines. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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