INSURANCE INDUSTRY
AXA zooms in on Chiang Mai
Joint venture sees northern city as ideal for its policy issuing services
French-Thai joint venture AXA Insurance has chosen Chiang Mai as one of its key strategic locations for expanding its business in Thailand and throughout the Asia-Pacific.The company recently launched a Process Support Centre (PSC) in Chiang Mai, its second in the Asia-Pacific, which will provide policy-issuing services for AXA in Thailand initially. The company plans to develop the centre to provide the same services in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, regional managing director Bernard Marseille said yesterday. The company set up its first PSC in Melaka, Malaysia, where it issues AXA policies in five countries. Compared with Bangkok, Chiang Mai has the advantage of lower rental costs. While a square meter of office space in Bangkok costs about Bt400, the same space in Chiang Mai costs only Bt50, said CEO Kheedhej Anansiriprapha. Executives from AXA's Asia-Pacific branches met in Chiang Mai earlier this week to discuss the business plan. Kheedhej said it would be easy for the company to recruit a new work force for the PSC, because there were 10 universities in Chiang Mai that produced qualified personnel. The Chiang Mai PSC provides support the one in Melaka, and so personnel must be able to communicate in English. Currently, AXA has three employees in the Chiang Mai branch in charge of issuing policies. The company wants to increase that number to 10 next year and 20 in 2008, when it expects full capacity, said Kheedhej. The company is committed to supporting local staff for promotion to executive posts. Kheedhej is the first Thai CEO. Kheedhej said the company expected to record a profit this year for Thailand, following a loss last year. However, zero growth is estimated for premiums in the Kingdom this year. Marseille said the company focused on cost management, with each unit in the five Asia-Pacific markets where it has a presence sharing a fifth of the total cost. Total AXA insurance premiums from Asia-Pacific operations rose 2 per cent to 192.2 million euros (Bt8.97 billion) in the first nine months of the year. The global business of the AXA Group, a worldwide insurance company, expanded at a satisfactory rate, with asset-management revenues up 28 percent, added Marseille. Wichit Chaitrong The Nation Chiang Mai
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